Pop : An Uneven Frame Draws the Faithful

When his group Aztec Camera arrived in the early ‘80s, leader Roddy Frame was touted as a brilliant songwriter in the mold of Elvis Costello. His promise fizzled over the course of the decade, but he’s still hanging around, and on Friday his faithful filled the Henry Fonda Theatre for a show that pretty much followed the same pattern as his career.

The thin, sharply dressed singer--who now plays solo under the Aztec Camera name--kicked off the 90-minute set with an acoustic guitar and a shy smile, bringing the audience out of their seats and to the front of the stage.

The simple acoustic setting allowed his stronger numbers to come through and added substance and bite to weaker ones, and his smooth, melodic vocals softened the guitar’s rawer edges. But when a pianist joined him in mid-set, the balance swung into sappy ballad territory.

Things unraveled from there, as Frame put down the guitar and took on a Vegas persona, complete with dangling cigarette and lounge-like arrangements of his songs. Toward the set’s close he fired up a drum machine as several audience members quietly muttered, “Don’t do it, Roddy.”

Good advice. Roddy Frame is definitely an artist who sounds better in the raw.