Photo by LOROTO PRODUCTIONS
Frankie Cosmos is the dreamy indie-pop conception of 24 year old Greta Kline. The band name is a nod to Frank O’Hara, whose poetry inspires Kline’s lyrics, and functioned as a stage persona to the limelight-shy singer. Kline fell into the New York DIY scene in high school, playing in a few indie bands, including the synth-pop group Porches, and uploading recordings on Bandcamp. Currently, Frankie Cosmos also includes bassist Alex Bailey, keyboardist Lauren Martin, and drummer Luke Pyenson. The band is preparing to tour the U.S. and Europe this summer after the release of their new album, Vessel, which arrived late March via Sub Pop, the Seattle-based record label that signed Nirvana. Vessel preserves the classic lo-fi quality of 2016’s Next Thing with Kline’s sweetly melancholic voice rising over grainy distortion. The album’s sound is heavier and more concrete than previous work, the songs punky and compact, minimalist storytelling. Still, the album’s brevity doesn’t make it any less impactful, as Kline weaves enchanting narratives of self-reflection, singing of girlhood heartbreak with a gentle, shrugging humor. Her ability to capture the vulnerability of being human with empathetic simplicity gives her music accessibility, as it lacks the ironic bite or self-pitying melodrama of other millennial-aged groups within the indie pop genre. Even with the band’s rising popularity, Frankie Cosmos remains rooted in the independent scene, emblematic of the genre’s self-proclaimed authenticity. — MARIAH HALL
FRANKIE COSMOS + FLORIST + LALA LALA @ UNION TRANSFER MAY 13TH