So here’s the breakdown. Cult hero and former Pixies frontman Charles Thompson — known to many as Frank Black and Black Francis — uses “Captain Pasty,” the first track on Bluefinger, to bring back the rock from days of yore and burst out in a psycho-surf meltdown.
“Threshold Apprehension” brings back the quirky hooks and female harmonies. “You Can’t Break a Heart and Have It” brings back the angry new wave. “She Took All the Money,” “Discotheque 36,” and the rest bring back nothing, but are fine examples of the skewed pop that Thompson first devised in the ’80s.
There aren’t any duds on Bluefinger, even if it isn’t the monumental classic that fans might want given the “big news.” That big news is that Thompson has re-reversed his stage name from Frank Black to his Pixies moniker, Black Francis. Fans, please note that Black Francis has never released a solo record, whereas Frank Black has released thirteen.
Both already have solid standings in the annals of rock music, so there is really nothing to prove here. Frank Black never wrote a tune for Pixies, and Black Francis never released a flop album (see Pistolero) or went country (the fine Honeycomb).
So despite the hints at his old persona, this doesn’t sound a thing like Pixies. It lacks their ability to coalesce disparate elements, and it certainly lacks the noise, but sounding like Pixies was never the point.
This is a new persona for Thompson, a Black Francis without Pixies, that keeps with the spirit of early Frank Black albums. It’s a damn fine album by any yardstick, and Francis — Black, whatever — sounds simply overjoyed to have reclaimed his dementia. We should all be so lucky.
– Mike McGovern
Frank Black: www.4ad.com/frankblack
Cooking Vinyl: www.cookingvinyl.com
Bluefinger: www.bluefingeronline.com