Soundbite

Frank Black Francis “Frank Black / Black
Francis” SpinART Records

Rock music is defined by it’s relativity. Call it six
degrees of inspiration; you can trace any band back to their
influences and judge them accordingly. Jimmy Eat World will never
be as good as Weezer, who in turn have yet to equal the Pixies.
What Frank Black Francis explores on this double-disc, self-titled
album is whether he himself can equal the Pixies, in either his
Black Francis or Frank Black incarnations. Born Charles Kitteridge
Thompson IV, he assumed the Black Francis identity along with song
writing, vocal, and guitar duties as the Pixies’ leading man.
After the Pixies’ dissolution, he crafted his solo career
under the everyman Frank Black moniker. “Frank Black/Black
Francis” merges the two names and bodies of work for the
first time. The album is divided between a demo disc from 1987 and
a “treated disc,” which features new renditions of
Pixies songs by Black and the Two Pale Boys. Either disc would make
a worthy addition for a fan of the Pixies or Black’s solo
work, and the juxtaposition of the two makes “Frank
Black/Black Francis” a must-have for Pixies devotees. The
demo disc was recorded with producer Gary Smith’s cassette
walk man the day before the first Pixies recording session. Black
Francis already sounds like a seasoned performer, and the takes are
fiery and confident. Though the liner notes degrade the disc as
being “very bootleg in sonic quality,” for the most
part, any rawness in the recording only intensifies the
performances. The songs stand on their own thanks to Francis’
unmistakable vocals as he yowls and half-speaks his way through the
songs. Alone with an acoustic guitar, he avoids singer-songwriter
triteness by varying his playing between heavily strummed chords
and dissonant picking, as on “Broken Face.” The songs
are often unintentionally humorous, as Francis explains to Smith
what the song will sound like with the band. “This is the one
we want to sound like Husker Du,” he says before starting in
on “Caribou.” The studio versions of these songs are
expectably better than the ones here, but they’re no less
accessible to new fans than a standard acoustic set. For longtime
Pixies listeners, though, the disc is valuable as a historical
document. The “treated disc,” on the other hand, would
be a poor place for the uninitiated to begin their Pixies
experience. Much like David Bowie’s later work, the disc
abandons much of Black’s youthful urgency and directness and
replaces it with relaxed soundscapes. One only has to compare song
lengths with the demos to notice how Black has become more
comfortable in the studio over the years. The demo disc fits 15
songs into 32 minutes, while the treated disc contains 13 tracks
for over 53 minutes. “Nimrod’s Son” is slowed
down to a dirge-like pace, with a funereal horn section to match.
There is no lack of high points: The chorus of “Wave Of
Mutilation” echoes the Pixies’ contemporaries, the
Jesus And Mary Chain, and “The Holiday Song” is
particularly intriguing with its interweaving horns and sparkling
guitars. However, the treated disc spans the entire Pixies’
catalog, and unfortunately some of the classics get lost in the
shuffle. “Where Is My Mind” offers no improvement over
the original, submerging itself in sci-fi sound effects and a
toneless drum machine. “Frank Black/Black Francis” is
perhaps viewed best in tandem with the new “Wave Of
Mutilation: The Best Of The Pixies” collection, with which it
shares several tracks. Black’s talent raises “Frank
Black/Black Francis” above the average fan-centric release,
though its primary appeal is to his existing audience. While Frank
Black Francis has proven himself worthy of his own praise both pre-
and post-Pixies, his career will always be distinguished by his
work with them. The worth of the two discs of “Frank
Black/Black Francis,” then, is relative; they may have some
trouble standing on their own, but they’re the strongest
bookends yet for the treasure trove of the Pixies’
canon.
-David Greenwald