Frank Lenz - VileLenz and Thieves

Label: Hidden Agenda

Release date: March 21, 2006

mp3: Bullets in the Wall

It's refreshing when a songwriter expresses his brutally honest frustration and sense of betrayal in his songs. One needs to look no further than the album title VileLenz and Thieves to get an idea what's in store on this release. VileLenz and Thieves is the third official release from Frank Lenz the solo artist. Who is Frank Lenz? If you are an avid indie music fan, check the credits in your record collection. Chances are pretty good that you'll see his name as one of the players or as the producer on at least half of them.

There's little about this record that is peppy or light-hearted. There's no manufactured sense of hope or joy. This is by far Lenz's most honest, transparent, and introspective work to date. Themes of betrayal run like rivers through songs like "Weekend Friends":

Best friends on weekends and holidays...everybody runs
when trouble comes.

And on track 3 "I've Got Other Things To Do":

Some friends said they had enough, hanging around with me
had gotten rough. Maybe I should stand up for myself and tell them all to go to hell.

"Bad Art" finds Lenz colorfully responding to critics with frustration and some self-depracation:

I took a shot and made bad art, because message board
kids don't know a lot.

I don't know shit and never have...

I've always been a fucking poser...

Conquest Slaughter, moron fodder...

My dick has an expiration date, do you like the taste?
Check the date.

Musically, VileLenz & Thieves is top-notch. Think 1970s singer/songwriter meets modern indie rock experimentalism and that will give an idea what this sounds like. The standout tune "Libertution" is the only rockin', upbeat tune of the 12. The track has a bass line that drives the tune, and the chorus will have you singing along. Of the other 11 tracks, 2 are soft instrumentals while the other 9 are somber ballads.

Frank Lenz gives indie rocksters something to cling to when misery strikes. This is the ultimate sad bastard record to be played in the early morning or late night hours. I'm sure some folks will be put-off by the melancholy tone and depressing themes contained in VileLenz and Thieves.

Then again, there's a little bit of Frank Lenz in all of us, right?