Frank Lenz – ViLenz & Thieves
Label: Self-Release
Style: Indie Pop, Singer/Songwriter, Urban Folk
Released: 2005
My Grade: 4.5 stars
AMG: n/a
Sounds like: Damien Jurado, Richard Swift, Denison Witmer

Threadbare emotions and the overarching pinnacle of failure coats this album like sand in the desert; Frank Lenz appears to be a man that not only bleeds his emotions upon his sleeve but also strips them out for the entire world to see.

The album opens itself up with the deceptively light “All Gods Creatures” – a whirling effect of synthesized technology that gives the effect of living in Europe during the Middle Ages; but the effect quickly dies and soon you are opened into a whole new world of hurt.

The sparse arraignments help give an urgency that is immediate in the world around it; but this is not a ‘light’ album, it is mind-blowingly constrictive and depressed. The universe seems to have dealt him a crushing blow and this is his morbid swan song.

Each song seems incomplete giving the entire album the feeling of chapters missing pages, perhaps even a deliberate attempt to leave them open for a different ending and a world of unknowns.

After two under-exposed but decidedly pop albums Lenz has stripped himself of every single shield and sanctuary, exposing himself completely to the harsh realities of life and the people in it. So what is he looking for? He does not answer a single question in the songs, he only asks more, this is a naked album of searching; and poor Frank seems very, very lost.

It is unfortunate that this album will once again slip into obscurity and become an unknown piece of introspective perfection.


Reviewed by: Aaron

Official Website: franklenz.com