Franky Lee is a Swedish rock band made up of members of Millencolin, Randy and Peepshow. Their first album, Cutting Edge, is 13 songs of guitar-heavy rock from Burning Heart Records.

If the above paragraph seems rather staid and bland, it only reflects the emotion that Cutting Edge invokes. Sounding like Millencolin at times (on opener "Solitary") and a lot like Foo Fighters at many other points (most notably on "The World Just Stopped," a track which also evokes a Revolution Smile song I can't remember right now), this album is certainly competent, almost to a fault. It is an enjoyable listen, and I rarely skip over the songs when they come up in the shuffle. But I have had the album for approximately a month, and not once have I felt the need to choose to listen to it.

Sadly, this is not what I expected. Millencolin's guitar work presents some of that band's most unequalled moments of greatness. Honestly, I expected more from Mathias Farm. Not only is that disheartening, but Nikola Sarcevic, of Millencolin fame, also helped cowrite the song "Pick Your Poison" which is no better than the rest, and sounds remarkably like a more radio-friendly Foo Fighters (though the brief solo is pretty awesome).

Maybe it's just the disappointment, as I expected this album to be completely gripping. Millencolin's Kingwood is one of my favorite albums of the past few years. Cutting Edge is merely well-played and forgettable. I know it might seem unfair to compare two bands that are only related by one member, but Franky Lee does little to escape from Millencolin's shadow, both musically and vocally.

The good thing about this album is the strong foundation laid down by the talents involved. Cutting Edge is not a great album, but, should they choose to continue and build on what they have made, and they have said they plan to, Franky Lee could blossom into a great band. They're just not there yet.