Franklin Bruno

Indie band breakups, hiatuses, temporary disbandings and momentary lulls are a boon for those who mourn the way that most fractured, critically acclaimed bands never seem to roll into town before the arguments start. This week we get Franklin Bruno, former lead singer of Nothing Painted Blue. He's currently Jenny Toomey's keyboard player (her latest, Tempting, gathers twelve of Bruno's songs with Toomey at the mic), and in the solo realm his songs include one-sided conversations such as "Your Inarticulate Boyfriend" and "Dashboard Issues" -- the kinds of songs that feel like novels or Noel Coward plays all by themselves. Bruno's intricate croon and songwriting savvy gave him both the tools and the stones to embark on "52 Songs," a project for which he wrote a song a week for a year. And now he's ours, all ours -- at least until the next breakup.