Dog In The Sand

I should have put Howl in the car 2 days running, I apologise if anyone gets this delivered by RSS to a work email, or you object to any of the following words, Shite, Filled, A and R, Bypassing, Pile, Of, Bollocks.
That all said todays car journey CD was the Frank Black album Dog In The Sand. Without being too rude it is best described as a shite filled A and R bypassing pile of bollocks. It appeared to put an extra hundred miles on my journey, seemingly a hundred miles that were cold grey and lifeless, I appeared to be stuck tearfully in a gridlock of emotions that were neither joyful or content. This album is a stinker, its lazy, cliche driven, middle of the road whilst dressing as a hip young gunslinger, this is I Just Called To Say I Love You, this a moustache on the Mona Lisa. I did not like at all.
Even ruling out Black's career with the Pixies and arguably his first couple of solo efforts, this is an unforgivable album, he has popped his career on cruise control and he is reading his stars, (Aries, you will find an overwhelming urge to release dull rock that only loyal followers will buy and like as they hope one day you will write something close to your early career output, oh and a dark haired man will talk washing machines with you), he needs to pay attention to his career and put down the metaphorical newspaper. This is a bad album, a really really bad album. No song was memorable, no song was enjoyable, 0 out of 10. it would be less than zero but then we get into that stupid X factor one million percent nonsense. No video as well, as that would imply there was something good about this.

Frank Black and the Catholics

The eponymous Frank Black and the Catholics today, the 1998 album released on Spinart. Listening to this made me think of the conversation that must have happened between Frank Black and Kim Deal prior to the reformation of the Pixies.

Frank Black: Hi Kim Waassssuuuuppp!
Kim Deal: (Sigh) Hi Charles.
FB: Watcha doin?
KD: You know, just chillin.
FB: Watcha mean, chillin?
KD: You know, just hanging out.
FB: Just you?
KD: (Sigh) No Charles, not just me.
FB: Is Albini there? I bet Albini is there. Is Albini there?
KD: (Muffled receiver) He is asking if you are here!!!
Steve Albini: (In the background) Tell him no, say it’s a dog, say its you and a dog, tell him its some chien andaluscian shit, seriously Kim, you say I’m here you get Pete Waterman engineering the next record, I swear to god.
KD: No Charles, it’s a dog, a Spanish dog.
FB: I love Spanish dogs, you know there is this movie right, and its called un chien..
KD: (cutting him off) Charles, did you call for something?
FB: Oh yeah, erm, I was just watching Oprah and I started wondering if you had you heard any of my albums?
KD: Oh yeah, course, I have heard them all…..
FB: Really? I mean that’s really good, real real good. Whats your favourite?
KD: Oh you know, they are all great it’s difficult to choose a favourite….
FB: But which one is the best????
KD: You know, the, erm, the one with the songs on them, you know, the shouty one???
FB: The shouty one?
KD: The shouty one!
FB: Kim, you know when we split you got Albini.
KD: Uh-huh.
FB: And I got the dude that did the Superbad soundtrack.
KD: Uh-huh.
FB: (Serious tone) So tell me Kim Deal WHICH album do you consider to be the Shouty one.
KD: (muffled) He is asking me which album of his I like best!!!!!!
SA: (in the background) Tell him The Frank Black and The Thingies one
KD: The what and the who???
SA: I saw it today in Best Buy, its like a yellow sleeve
KD: (To FB) The one with the yellow sleeve?
SA: It was real cheap.
KD: (To FB) The real cheap one with the yellow sleeve?
SA: It was next to the second Ugly Kid Joe album, hey I bought that Ugly Kid Joe album, do you want to hear it?
KD: (To FB) The real cheap one with the yellow sleeve next to the second Ugly Kid Joe album!
FB: And your favourite song on that album?
KD: Oh you know, the one about the Mojave?
FB: Sorry?
KD: Or whores?
FB: what?
KD: spaceships?
FB: You haven’t heard a single thing I have done since the Pixies have you?
KD: Do I need to?
FB: *Click*

2 out of 10.



All My Ghosts by Frank Black

The Cult Of Ray

Today was the second offering so far from Frank Black, The Cult Of Ray, I think this was his third or fourth album and where the last album I listened to was a great surprise, an very enjoyable surprise this was like sucking porridge through a straw and as it finished as I passed the Belfry, I was happy to see it go.
Its not that it was bad, just not particularly interesting, Black was doing his post Pixies thing but at a tempo that I wasn’t particularly enamoured with. All squealy electric guitars and nonsense lyrics that didn’t really do anything for me.
On the plus side this album does contain my favourite solo Frank Black song in I don’t want to hurt you, but one swallow and all that and discarding that song there was very little meat on this bone. The final song reminded me of the Cher song, Just like Jesse James, which in all honesty, if Frank had covered that it might have been a gentle respite. As it was Frank chose to stick to topics that he knows and deals with well, namely, “bollocks”, well certainly on this album, and by bollocks I don’t mean that he has songs like the ballad of testicle joe, or John Waynes hairy saddle bags, (to be fair again if he had done songs called that it may have been a little more entertaining), no the bollocks I am referring to is the bollocks in the sentence “whats this bollocks”.
I don’t think this is the worst B, if it turns out to be the worst then it means the B’s have been very good, I just didn’t really enjoy it, 4 out of 10



The Marsist by Frank Black

Teenager Of The Year

I reiterate what it says over on the right there, I am currently listening to my entire CD collection on my commute to work between Stafford and Birmingham. The rules are simple, its only albums, EP’s, Singles and the odd discretionary mini album are not listened to, I listen to them for the entire journey there and back and then I tell you what I think about it, giving it largely a mark out of ten. The CD’s are filed in loosely alphabetical order and today that alphabetical order has bought me to Frank Blacks sophomore release, Teenager Of The Year.
This album, like all of the Frank Black albums are my wifes, when the Pixies split up, my path was that of the Deal and not the Black, my wife on the other hand chose both paths, I personally do not own any Frank Black and the material she foisted on me was not enjoyed at all. That’s the back story anyway.
This album is notable for many things, firstly the back up band features Pixies guitarist, Joey Santiago, and it doesn’t take much craning of the ear to pick out his licks, this album also features Captain Beefheart member Eric Drew Feldman, he also played keyboards on the final Pixies album Trompe Le Monde, finally, and this was something I didn’t know until today, also playing guitar on this album is Lyle Workman, Lyle Workman amongst other notable achievements composed the soundtrack to the film Superbad, which is way cooler than Captain Beefheart.
So what of the album? In that Bad Religion was the wrong soundtrack to an early morning commute, Frank Black and this album perhaps in particular were the perfect soundtrack, its utterly diverse enough for every song to warrant attention, it isn’t a difficult listen but it isn’t an easy one. The songs certainly for me invoke sunshine and not showers and if there is a message, its really OK if you don’t get it.
It weighs in at 22 or 23 songs long and not a single song made me think, perhaps I could skip this one. It surprised me, it surprised me because I must have heard this album around ten times and didn’t enjoy a single listen, may be I was too young to appreciate it.
You may think, well you love the Pixies, so you are of course going to love this, not entirely true, yes I do love the Pixies but I really didn’t get the Frank Black solo thing.
So that all said, Teenager of the Year gets a nice surprising 8 out of 10



Abstract Plain/Sir Rockaby by Frank Black