Frente! - History

History

Frente! burst onto the Australian music charts with the singles "Ordinary Angels" (from the Clunk EP, No. 3, gold) and "Accidently Kelly Street" (#4, platinum) in 1992. Notable as much for the bizarre film clips ("Accidently Kelly Street" consisted of the band with oversized novelty props of household items, and the title of the song was purposely written with an initial lowercase) as their light-hearted pop lyrics, Frente!'s debut album, Marvin the Album (#5) was also a success, going platinum in Australia. Another single was released from the album in early 1993, "No Time" (#50), which did not fare as well.

"Ordinary Angels" finished the year as the 20th best selling single of 1992 on the ARIA charts, with "Accidently Kelly Street" finishing 29th.

The band promoted overseas in 1994 with their biggest success being an acoustic cover version of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" which reached No. 76 in the UK (following releases of earlier tracks "Ordinary Angels" which did not chart and "Accidently Kelly Street" which reached No. 84). "Bizarre Love Triangle" was released in Australia on a re-issued version of the "Lonely" EP in 1994 (#7, with the first issue charting at No. 88). The cover was also a hit in the United States, charting at No. 10 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band's only other chart placement in the United States was a re-release of the "Labour of Love" single, which managed No. 9 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

They appeared on the 1994 soundtrack for the American television series Melrose Place with the song "Ordinary Angels".

In between the first and second Frente! albums, Angie Hart lent her vocal to an Australian single by Pop! titled "Tingly" (#92), released in late 1995.

Frente! also has a track on the compilation album Saturday Morning, a cover version of "Open Up Your Heart (and Let the Sunshine In)". The album was released on 5 December 1995.

Frente! released a second album, Shape, in 1996, produced by Ted Nicely, who had previously worked with Fugazi, among others. The first single "Sit On My Hands" peaked at No. 66 in Australia, and the second, "What's Come Over Me" did not enter the top 100 although it did reach No. 83 in the UK. The album peaked at No. 35. Frente! broke up shortly after its release in 1996.