Something of a New York underground institution, Frog formed back in 2012 as a vehicle for the songwriting of Daniel Bateman, initially alongside drummer Tom White, who recently returned as the bassist in the live band, and was replaced behind the kit by Daniel’s brother Steve. Eight albums in thirteen years is already pretty good going by anyone’s standards, but factor in a four-year hiatus and the fact that four of those albums have arrived in just three years without any drop in quality, and Frog’s recent hot creative streak is a thing of real wonder.

The band’s most recent offering is Frog For Sale, a record that finds Daniel mining the influence of classic songwriters from Paul McCartney to Buddy Holly, albeit with a distinctly Frogian twist. The opening track Bad Time to Fall in Love Again, shuffles in like Roy Orbison gone Calypso, while the single Dark Out sounds like early Beatles performing to awkward teens at a 1980s Prom and Lois Lane adds a marching drum to Daniels’ glistening piano chords and crooned vocals. A particular favourite of mine is Yonder This Way Comes, something of a mid-album aside it finds Daniel coming across all Woody Guthrie, as his acoustic guitar rushes by and the words become a tumbling waterfall of insecurities, “I’m all thumbs and I can’t much hardly hear but for the drums, and who’s that cute young thing that says she loves your songs that yonder this way comes”.

If Jeffrey Lewis is the heir to Leonard Cohen’s New York, then perhaps Daniel’s view is the modern twist on another famous inhabitant, Lou Reed. The difference between the two is that Reed’s New York was seedy and glamorous, a snapshot of New York’s past in its artistic prime, while it still possessed an air of real danger; Daniel’s is the modern version. All the grime remains, but Daniel’s characters have an air of entitled frustration, not glamour. These are lonely middle-aged men, down on their luck and looking anywhere but towards themselves for someone to blame, as they lash out at a world that no longer seems designed to make their dreams come true. One of his great strengths as a lyricist is that he blurs all the lines between songwriter, subject and listener. You’re never sure if what’s being sung about is entirely a character. He makes us see parts of ourselves in these people, even if we really don’t want to. He’ll make you wonder if that sleazy struggling musician character is actually a character at all, is it him? Or just what happens when a dream we all once had goes badly awry.

With their upcoming London show recently upgraded from Oslo to Village Underground, it seems Frog are a band enjoying a long-deserved moment in the spotlight, and celebrating that today, Daniel takes us on a track-by-track journey through the magical settings of Frog For Sale.

This was very fun to make and very tough to mix. There were some tough moments in some of these sessions. I think it came out pretty good, though.

Bad Time to Fall in Love Again

I did this digitally, guitar and vox in one take, and then doubled both. I had trouble finding a melodic aspect of the arrangement; my piano was really out of tune, and I couldn’t get it to sound good in the mix. We finally landed on glockenspiel, and I think it works. I’m drumming on a lot of this too, with Stevie’s take flown in. 

Best Buy

This is my favorite one. The guitar was direct, and it sounds like it clips sometimes, which I tried to fix, but not that hard. I was really happy when I looked, and there was a Best Buy in Bed Stuy, or at least around the corner from it. This was mostly recorded on the tape machine, which I had fixed at Analogique.

Dark Out

A sweet one. I recorded the piano first, and I wasn’t that into the take, but Steve heard it and said, “That’s a hit.” So, we added all the other instruments. This was my first time using the midi strings so prominently on this record, and it got me into a midi strings mood for the rest of the album. I was definitely trying to channel Macca on a bunch of these songs. 

Yonder This Way Comes

My friend Emma says this one doesn’t fit here, which I kind of understand, but I couldn’t come up with a better order, so here it went. The recording you hear is the first time I ever actually sang the song all the way through, and I was so happy I didn’t screw up that I really pounded on the chords after.

Stole My Heart

I threw this together one day on the Casio; the second verse was from another song that I cannibalized. I don’t think I spent a lot of time thinking this one through, which I think works for it. This was the first guitar take, and it was the only one I really nailed. Steve is doing some hilarious Stewart Copeland moves that I love.

Max von Side-Eye

I had some trouble with the lyrics in the chorus, but I loved this one, and I love “senior quote was Bright Eyes.” My friend AJ loved Bright Eyes in high school, but I haven’t looked up his senior quote, as of this writing.

Lois Lane

This was actually recorded during the Grog sessions, along with a few other ones that didn’t make the cut for that one, but it was too good to leave sitting in the dustbin. Great era of Steve drumming and Danny Casio.

All the Things You Get

I recorded this really quickly by myself, but then Steve convinced me that he should be the drummer. He was right; he killed it. This is an older song that I just remembered one day, except I had to write new verses. Steve helped me make the second verse less embarrassing, and that’s why I say, “Steve is right.”

Professional

For years, I couldn’t figure out what happened in the 2nd part of this one, so I had to start a different kind of song for the verse part and somehow find my way back to the chorus. Steve insisted that the amphibian line was the one.

Je Ne Sais Pas

We wrote this and three other songs in one night. When you’re having a good night, you should keep making music; anything could happen. Steve once lived in a sixth-floor walk-up in Harlem, next to the deli where they invented the chop-cheese sandwich.

Wish Upon a Falling Star

My daughter likes to play this game, where when she gets out of the tub, she wants me to pretend she’s an animal sent to me in a package, the exact species varying by day. Then at some point, she admits that she’s my daughter and that the mailman confused me. My family is my biggest inspiration, by far.

Beg, Borrow, Steal

I think I’m drumming on a bunch of this song, although I honestly can’t remember. I really love this album by Wolfgang Voigt, Polkatrax, and I think it brought me down this road in some way, although again, I don’t remember exactly how I arrived here.

Frog is for sale; this is an advertisement for our services. 

Frog For Sale is out now via Audio Antihero / Tapewormies. For more information on Frog visit https://frog.band/.