The Frank and Walters are one of the most recognizable alternative rock bands hailing from Cork, Ireland in the past 3 decades.
The band: Paul Linehan (Lead vocal & bass), Ashley Keating (Drums) Rory Murphy (lead Guitar) and Cian Corbett (Keyboards) took the band name in honour of two eccentric Cork characters. Two decades on from the release of their very first record, and the Franks continue to defy expectations. With Indie hits such as ‘Fashion Crisis Hits New York’ & ‘After All’ (which reached the top twenty in the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at 11. The group also appeared on Top of the Pops in support of the single, it went as high as 5 in the Irish charts). Their music today is as relevant as any of the new pretenders on the block and only a handful of bands anywhere in the world can lay claim to such longevity of popularity. Each year, the Frank and Walters perform sell out venues across the UK, Europe, and the US and their records, both new and classic, continue to sell across the world.
It’s been an eventful few years for the band with the release of their latest album Songs for the Walking Wounded in 2016 and a European tour in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their 2nd album Grand Parade in 2017.
2018 had began with the band beginning work on the next album when, twenty five years after they gate crashed the UK Top 20 with their seminal hit ‘After All’, the track found a whole new audience following a classic television moment on the RTE/BBC production The Young Offenders.
As the captives of a lovably psychotic Billy Murphy broke into the indie anthem on a Cork bus, so began the track’s whirlwind ascent of music charts both here and in the UK, culminating in a mid-week position of Number 1 on the i-Tunes download chart. A little more than 25 years to the day since the Franks played ‘After All’ on BBC’s flagship music show, Top of the Pops, the melodic hit once again reminded listeners that good tunes simply never go away.
“The Frank and Walters create music as timeless and classic as their heroes The Beatles and Brian Wilson. But it’s their decency and kindness, in a music biz of sharks, that will always endear them to me” – Ken Sweeney.