Let’s face it, Frank Black is a legend. Spearheading one of the finest bands of all time in the form of The Pixies, Black has probably influenced more musicians than anyone. Ever.
His latest release, ‘Bluefinger’, is a tribute to the Dutch artist Herman Brook who took his own life in 2001.
The track ‘Captain Patsy’ hails back to the Pixie’s raw guitar-driven glories while ‘Threshold Apprehension’ takes us down a different route regarding the anxiety of death. Despite such a gloomy subject matter, it still contains one of the best lyrics I’ve heard in a long while in the form of ‘Talk to the man just to get a little work then you talk to the hand just to get a little jerk’. Genius. Throughout, it is still the same Frank Black but there is some originality too. ‘Test Pilot Blues’ brings the tempo down a notch while ‘Discotheque’ gives a firm nod to his song-songwriter abilities.
He hasn’t lost ‘it’ and that’s good to know.
