Not to be confused with an actual person named
Frank Jordan,
Frank Jordan is in reality a trio consisting of guitarist/vocalist Mike Visser, bassist Matt Ontjes, and drummer Devin Hurley. You might, however, confuse
Frank Jordan with
Jeff Buckley, whom Mike Visser sounds exactly like. Blessed with a similarly angelic tenor wail and arpeggiated guitar chops, it is almost as if the only record Visser has ever heard is
Grace. This is not to denigrate Visser's apparent abundance of talent, but merely to point out the glaringly obvious fact that he hasn't yet found his own voice. The specter of
Buckley towers over this album, shadowing every beautiful melody and frenetic drum roll with the sense that no matter how good it sounds -- and it does often sound great -- it simply isn't the real thing. If you loved
Buckley, you will most likely chafe on a first listen to
Enemies and relegate
Frank Jordan to your discarded pile of "CDs to be sold," right next to the pile of
Radiohead sound-alike bands. However, if you give
Frank Jordan another listen you might just think to yourself that in a few years time, these guys could possibly do something a bit more original and profound. By then, you can think back to when you first heard
Frank Jordan, when they themselves still hadn't gotten over hearing
Jeff Buckley for the first time. ~ Matt Collar