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Album Review

Frank Black Francis Frank Black Francis
Cooking Vinyl

Article written by Matt H
Oct 23, 2004.

Charles Thompson seems almost embarrased about releasing the first of the two CDs included here. As Black Francis he performed a solo run through before the session that would become the Purple Tape (also released a while back by Cooking Vinyl) and Pixies completists have been pressing to hear it for a long time. Whilst they won't be disappointed, anyone familiar with the solo concerts Black Francis did before the Pixies split will have a good idea of what to expect. The songs are fully formed and largely familiar. But without Joey Sanitago's genius guitar squall and Kim Deal's effortless cool, it just ain't the Pixies. The only new things to me with this are the frankly sketchy effort of Boom Chickaboom and the take on Oh My Golly that emphasises its flamenco roots. Still, as a half hour of history it's not something I'd have wanted to miss.

The other half of the package though is an altogether different affair. Following the lead of Mark Eitzel and Will Oldham, Black has attacked his sacred cow of a back catalogue with relish (or rather with a sampler and brass section). With the possible exception of the colliery band version of the Holiday Song and the oompah reading of Nimrod's Son, it's a pretty reverent if not faithful take, indulging to the full Frank's love of sci-fi wierdness. Both Caribou and Velouria get laid back but doomy cinematic reworkings, though with incongruous echoes of Morricone soundtracks sometimes intruding. Where is my Mind? is phoned in directly from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Other versions are less successful: Cactus echoes over minor chords with a fragmented arhythmic pace and the vocal of Levitate Me is deliberately overwhelming to the chimes that back it.

The best stuff is the songs that take a more heavily post-rock approach. Wave of Mutilation keeps the slow pace of its surf version, but this time over a delicate Slint-like backing. Monkey Gone to Heaven sounds like it's being played by a synth heavy My Bloody Valentine. Most notable though - if only for its length - is the Velvetisation of Planet of Sound. Shorn of the metal riff, it becomes an insistent building Sister Ray of a song, eventually post-rocking itself out after nearly 15 minutes.

Frank Black (or whoever) has always been aimiably bonkers -the second CD proves the point. This is no essential Pixies release, but stacks up very well against the too often 'meat and potatoes' approach of Frank's solo career. A curio, but a good curio.

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