Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes – Dark Rainbow

For a while now, Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes have perhaps been unsung heroes of British rock.

Despite being esteemed by peers – Idles’s Joe Talbot and Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie appeared on their most recent record, Sticky, while Tom Morello is another past collaborator – the Rattlesnakes have never quite been billed as rock’s great new hope in the way some other acts are. Yet they have built a reputation as a raucous live act and attracted admiration for taking up the cause of venues struggling after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now Frank and bandmate Deano Richardson are back with a fifth album, Dark Rainbow, that might be their most intriguing yet.

It is nothing new for a group or artist initially known for their anarchic, punky edge and jarring guitar riffs to turn more melodic as they are assailed by the odd grey hair. After all, the Arctic Monkeys are no longer writing tracks whose lyrics are screamed by Fred Perry-clad teens.

However, Dark Rainbow is more special than most. Yes, like other “mature” rock records, the raw riffs have been replaced by pianos, synths and strings, but there’s an organicness to how it fits with Carter’s vocals and Gothic allusions.

Opener Honey eases existing fans in with a familiar rasping rock sound, but recent single Man of the Hour acts as Dark Rainbow’s anthemic statement of intent, with waltz-like synths providing the backdrop to Frank’s ruminations on the nature of modern fame. Can I Take You Home and American Spirit follow a similar pattern, with the more melodic style giving Carter’s vocals space to breathe, and offering them a richness that one could perhaps overlook in the past.

The staccato nature of Happier Days blends Rattlesnakes’s styles old and new, but it’s the next track, the hypnotic ode to troubled love, Brambles, that is perhaps the album’s standout.

Queen of Hearts and Sun Bright Golden Happening then take the record into an unexpectedly downbeat, dreamy place – one that may be too much for many fans. Yet the anthems return at the back end, with the album’s title track a perfect closer.

Dark Rainbow may follow an established pattern of rock acts being drawn towards pianos in the same way others ditch nightclubs for book clubs as they age. But it has an authenticity to it that makes it feel like a natural and worthwhile progression for the band.

Mark Worgan
Image: Brian Rankin

Dark Rainbow is released on 26^th January 2024. For further information or to order the album visit Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Brambles here: