Frank Lenz: Holy Rollers Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Frank Lenz: Holy Rollers Original Motion Picture Soundtrack– Frank Lenz is a multi-instrumentalist on Velvet Blue Music. You may not know his name, but Frank Lenz has had a hand in many of the bands you know and love. Everyone from Pedro The Lion, Richard Swift, The Weepies, Starflyer 59, Headphones, Everest and The Lassie Foundation have all enjoyed his company at one time or another. Leading an eclectic life musically has also carried over into his personal life leading him to high places, low places and everywhere in-between. The result is a unique brand of indie rock that infuses elements of indie, shoegaze and Americana all into one.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t typically gravitate towards soundtracks of any kind… Most are strictly a compilation of songs from bands you’ll never hear from again. I find that the ones that are more palpable are soundtracks done by a single artist. Hopefully this becomes more of the norm as talented artists like Andrew Bird(Norman Original Soundtrack) and now Frank Lenz are taking the reins from lazy producers who merely cull their catalogs for songs that never make an appearance in the movie anyway.
So what is Holy Rollers, anyway? Well it’s a documentary on the true story of card counting Christians. Basically, there’s a team of card counting black jack players who have large bank rolls and win money from casinos, which they then turn over to their church. Sure, this takes an incredible amount of cognitive dissonance on the part of the gamblers and that’s where the real story lies. It was released earlier this month via Warner Brothers.
The soundtrack itself is a quirky mix of upbeat and moody indie rock songs driven by synthesizers and poppy drums. The occasional vocal is thrown in from time to time to break up the mostly instrumental affair and when present, add just the right amount of heart. The slower tracks are all very moody, as they should be: They’re there to create mood for the film. The biggest drawback to this record is the same complaint I have for most soundtracks: Songs are too short. Sure, there’s plenty of songs to go around, but they’re all snipped to fit into the film.
Overall, I liked this much more than I thought I would. Lenz’s style lies somewhere between Richard Swift and earlier works of Pedro The Lion which is a refreshing change that you’re not likely to hear throughout many of the movies you’ll see. Hopefully this won’t be the end of Lenz’s ventures into the theatrical world…9.2/10
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