If you are listening to Jenny Franck for the first time, be prepared to be wowed by a great voice and some killer guitar riffs. Jenny isn’t your typical girl singer or girl rocker. There’s no little girl voice here, and definitely no screaming vocals. In fact, what you’ve got is a mixture of the vocal prowess of Ann Wilson from Heart with the guitars of the grunge era to make it interesting.
In four tracks, you get to experience just a taste of Jenny, and if you like girl rockers, that taste will leave you wanting more. Jenny handles the guitars along with Mike Orr (bass) and Steve Matthews (drums). Together the three of them have created rock music that real people can identify with.
It is hard not to be drawn to Jenny’s cover of “Heart Shaped Box.” When an emerging artist chooses to cover such a well-known song, it has to draw some interest. Jenny slows the track down at the chorus and adds her own deep, husky vocals to the tune, and the result will stun you with its beauty. Jenny stripped down Nirvana’s song and delivers it to her audience with simplicity. It has a more haunting air to it now.
There can be no doubt that Jenny has been influenced by many of the grunge artists of the 90s and that influence comes across loud and clear on tracks like “Best In Me,” as well as her Nirvana cover. “Best In Me” is a very dark, almost brooding listen. When she sings, “I never show the best in me,” you can almost feel her frustration. The guy she wants to notice her doesn’t and, all in all, life just isn’t being kind–and that results in her not putting her best out there.
“I See You” is probably the most upbeat of the four tracks, with a steady guitar rhythm that sticks in your mind and gets your body moving. This song that has real energy, and it shares that energy with the listener. It probably should come with a warning label: Beware, listening to this song too long may cause you to body surf through a crowd.
Jenny isn’t all about rock. She has a softer side as well, and she shows it off on “Fragile.” This particular song drifts more into the pop spectrum, with a jangling guitar to accompany Jenny’s dreamy vocals. She handles this slower number just as well as the rockers, and it leaves you with a desire for more like it.
If these four songs are any indication of what’s to come, Jenny Franck has a promising career ahead of her. With her strong voice and the girl grunge sound that’s really more than just grunge, Jenny is sure to catch the ear of many listeners. This EP is definitely a teaser, and once you’ve heard it you will be eagerly waiting for whatever Jenny might be recording next.
Review by Andrea Guy
