Bad Wave experiment on Frank Ocean.

 

After amassing praise from everyone from the Guardian, Radio 1 and The Sunday Times with the retro synthpop stylings of breakout singles Runaway, Look Out and Extraordinary, Los Angeles indie duo Bad Wave have decided to go somewhat off-piste with their latest effort: an extended, reimagined cover of Frank’s Track, which for the uninitiated is Frank Ocean’s short cameo number on Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo, released earlier in 2016.

It’s a curious choice, but their reworking of the track – an experiment that, on paper, had significant margin for error – is undoubtedly effective. Awash with hushed, ghostly keys and twinkling electronics, Bad Wave bring what was originally a mere fragment of a song to life, with frontman Tucker Tota’s boyish, reverb-laden voice (which bears more than a passing resemblance to that of fellow LA indie popper Mark Foster) taking centre stage.

Frank’s Track 2.0 is a quieter affair than what we’re currently used to from Bad Wave, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. With any luck, it’s hopefully an early sign of more experimental things to come from the band in the near future.