Artist Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls

Only the occasional slip of the accent betrays singer-songwriter Frank Turner as an Eton College-graduate-turned-punk, and not a world-weary folkie raised in the rural United States. Having completed a vocal-chord-rending tour of duty with hardcore act Million Dead in 2005, Turner channeled the grit and fury of his old band into furiously strummed, bracingly direct folk-rock. Also betraying Turner’s old life: “Try This At Home,” a DIY call-to-arms from 2009’s Poetry Of The Deed that bemoans scene politics and sharpens the old saw that punk isn’t a musical style—it’s an attitude. Despite his Americana-ish folky cred, Turner wears his national identity on his sleeve with his latest release, England Keep My Bones, which is Brit-centric through and through.

Updated 10/18/2011