a d f r a n k
"Incoherent, face-in-the-toilet heartbreak has a new hero in Ad Frank."
-- Rochester City Weekly, Saby Reyes-Kilkarni 03/23/2005
"Frank’s epically jaded crooning… dissects his psyche, gliding over some of the cleverest couplets this side of Morrissey or the Magnetic Field’s Stephin Merritt.”
--Jonathan Perry, The Boston Globe, 04/24/2003
"Ad Frank’s loquacious croon evokes early David Bowie or late Jarvis Cocker, with maybe a smidgen of Bryan Ferry's "I'm world-weary but I look fabulous' cynicism." --Stuff at Night, 07/01/2001
Dubbed "the poet laureate of the lovelorn” by the Big Takeover, Ad Frank follows a long tradition of brooding, hyper-literate curmudgeons that includes Leonard Cohen, Lloyd Cole and Roddy Frame. His wry, self-deprecating lyrics tell familiar tales of a life and loves that did not go as planned. Stopping just short of morose, Ad offsets his darker side with wry proclamations such as his ballad, "If I Find Another One Of Your Bobby Pins In My Bed, I'm Coming By To Shove Them Up Your Ass."
With his bruised, well-intentioned baritone, Ad has been repeatedly nominated for Best Male Vocalist by the Boston Phoenix and the Boston Music Awards. In 2007, he was awarded a Maxie award by the Noise for Best Stage Presence.
A critic’s favorite, his 2005 album, The World’s Best Ex-Boyfriend, "bursts with love-lorn desperation," according to the Boston Globe. The Weekly Dig, declared its flagship anthem, "Lucky," to be "an introspective crooner, a ballad just this side of stadium-sized, just dripping with heart and brimming with clever, poignant turns of phrase."
Together with his band, 70s-influenced powerhouse The Fast Easy Women, Ad and company deliver a sound that evokes late glam and early new wave. The band has sold out its first two local shows with its new line up and is recording material for a new album. Now in his third decade as a songwriter and performer, Ad continues to pack local clubs and has received enthusiastic welcome in clubs throughout the Midwest and East Coast. He has shared bills with his idol, John Cale, jazz legend Mose Allison, and retro-upstarts The Bravery. His music has been featured on “One Life to Live” and NPR’s Marketplace.
In addition to his work with the Fast Easy Women, Ad plays with New Romantic phenom, Lifestyle, fronted by Sean Drinkwater of Freezepop. He has performed live and on record with the Dresden Dolls, the Willard Grant Conspiracy, Martin Carr of the Boo Radleys, Paula Kelley and RCA recording artist Jen Trynin.