...and since most of you (Americans, that is) have no idea who Fiction Plane is, the frontman/vocalist/bassist is one Joe Sumner, the son of Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, AKA Sting. Some of you may have even seen Fiction Plane in concert when they opened for the Police on the recent reunion tour, playing in front of tens of thousands. I saw them on the supporting tour for their first album some six or seven years ago in a small club with about a hundred people, many of which were attractive twenty-something females hoping to hit the handsome ca-ching of Sting's loins. The three-piece band rocked hard, as loud a show I'd attended in years, and truly impressed this old fart. One of the songs from that first record became a personal anthem, and I have often pulled the CD out to play for people over the past few years. I completely missed the second record from 2007 and its subsequent live album last year, but I'm ahead of the game with "Sparks", released in Europe a couple of months ago and rumored to be available here in the states this fall. There is mixed info about that, though, as I've seen one release date and label go by the wayside already. This would be a tragedy for domestic audiences because this record is one of the best of the year so far. You can hear dad's influence in Joe's vocals and songwriting, though the lyrics and tone can be much darker and more cynical than papa Sting's. Here is the new video exclusive I found on a French site that illustrates what I mean. Also, the final track on the album is an acoustic song called "Sadr City Blues", so you can imagine the content within. It's completely atypical of the musical style of "Sparks", but it is a certified smash hit if it will only get airplay. Speaking of musical style, this is a rock/pop record, not a pop/rock record full of la la la songs, although ironically the opener is subtitled the La La Song. The first five tracks are head-nodding rockers, and then the band gets really adventurous with challenging tempos and subject matter, making "Sparks" a must listen for Mad Rocker fans. You can tell that money isn't a roadblock for these guys; big production, studio-friendly, best equipment, etc.. The most head-shaking fact for me is that the band members cite Nirvana's "Nevermind" as a prime influence for what they do, and I don't hear any of that at all, thankfully. Rolling it up for this old music ear, I hear Crack the Sky meets Blue October meets the Killers. But for any of you old Police fans who have kids into intelligent music and not the standard radio crap, buy this record for them but give it a listen yourself. Oops, I forgot, you'll have to visit an international seller and get it digitally, just like your ol' pal.
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