Music Review

22 November 2008 12:29 BST

Black Francis: Bluefinger

Cooking Vinyl, out September 3rd 2007.

In a nutshell…

Herman Brood-inspired classic Francis.

What's it all about?

Bluefinger is a 40-minute blast of trad pop and rock'n'roll from the one-time leader of influential proto-grunge stars the Pixies.

With the Pixies reformation perhaps unsurprisingly truncated, Francis Black found himself in the studio recording a bonus track to entice buyers for his solo best of, 93-03, released earlier this year. Reclaiming the Black Francis name "almost as a joke" before the influence of Herman Brood took over, he stumbled out of the studio days later with a full 11-track LP, with one Brood cover and ten Black Francis originals.

Who's it by

Frank Black. Having recorded a number of albums under that name since the band's demise in the mid-90s, either by himself or with backing band the Catholics, Black reformed the Pixies for a number of critically and publicly acclaimed live shows and Kim Deal-penned download-only single Bam Thwok in 2005.

With attempts at properly reuniting the band in the studio failing, Black reportedly returned to his earlier moniker believing that simply saying the name would bring back some of the earlier magic. Having found that uttering the three syllables did nothing at all he professes that the influence of Herman Brood - an art, sex, drugs and rock and roll legend - took over, this new supernatural resurrecting Black Francis.

As an example…

"He played piano really f*****g good/ West Berlin to West Hollywood/ Prettier than Brando/ Punker than Punk / Slave to rock and roll/ And a slave to junk" - Angels Come To Comfort You.

Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys

Not impossible. The Pixies return reminded the critics that Black has been prolifically putting out records for quite a while and Bluefinger is certainly strong enough to turn some heads and maintain some of that attention.

What the others say

"Too often Black Francis is beginning to resemble Lou Reed, another persistent talent whose best work was his earliest." - Steve Jelbert, the Times

"This is a great record. OK, so it's no Pixies classic, but its not that far removed. Certainly a contender for one of the records of the year." - Steven Fanning, New-Noise.net

So is it any good?

While it'd be sensible to approach the record with some trepidation - the return-to-roots trick an oft-used ploy for artists stuck in a musical cul-de-sac passing off tired facsimiles of their earlier work - Bluefinger shows such suspicion to be entirely unwarranted in this case.

Bluefinger is a fine record. While it doesn't scale the dizzy heights of the finest Pixies moments, it is a focused, coherent, tuneful and sometimes brilliant album. While undoubtedly less avant garde and innovative than the likes of Surfer Rosa or Doolittle, it has a gorgeous charm all of its own.

Traipsing through a raft of musical styles, from 60s/00s blues (Test Pilot Blues) and Iggy and Joy Division goth punk smut (Tight Black Rubber) to Lou Reed and Lennon-esque melodies augmented with harmonica reminiscent of Neil Young's folkier work (Lolita), Bluefinger consistently fails to disappoint.

For the most part forgoing the loud-quiet-loud Pixies dynamic in favour of more traditional song structures, Black's voice sounds beautifully expressive and honest, almost fragile on occasions, with the primal scream he pretty much patented with his former band deployed more sparingly, but to no less effect.

7.5 /10



Mayer Nissim