Frank Turner may have been part of a London post-hardcore band called Million Dead but after they parted ways, he took off on a solo career and has released three decent albums. However, I do have to point out that I was not one of his many loyal fans since Sleep Is for the Weak. I only really gave him a chance when his latest album, Poetry of the Deed, was released in 2009 and even then I didn’t fully allow myself to hear him out. For some reason, I have a problem with the term “folk punk,” and that is the exact phrase many people use to coin Turner’s sound.

Folk punk automatically makes me think of City and Colour which is the solo project of Alexisonfire’s Dallas Green and I’m not a huge fan of that genre. The songs aren’t so awful for me to skip to the next track if a folk punk track were on a mixtape, but the harshness of hardcore punk aspects coming together with flowery lyrics and acoustic material never really sat well with me. (I’m a bit too choosy when it comes to types of punk.)

One song off of Turner’s Poetry of the Deed I enjoyed above the other tracks, specifically, was ‘The Road.” However, it wasn’t until I saw him perform at Lollapalooza that I really enjoyed all the different things he did in his songs. It turns out I had mistakenly dismissed my interest just because of the “folk punk” label, because what I experienced at the festival that day (still in slight rain) was more folk rock than anything else; he executed it all perfectly. It may have been the British accent (and the fact that he looks a bit like Brett of Flight of the Conchords when his hair is too long) that pulled me in to closely listen for once and hear what I hadn’t noticed before, but whatever he did at his set during Lollapalooza completely won me over as a fan.

I’m sure there are tons of you out there who are already Frank Turner fans, but take a listen to “The Road” to celebrate my recent approval and new fondness. As for those of you who don’t know Turner as well, your chance to do that is below the jump!

Mp3: Frank Turner – The Road