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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
 Posted - 09/14/2003 : 00:33:01
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A review by Colm Larkin, www.eyeballkid.com:
FRANK BLACK AND THE CATHOLICS ‘SHOW ME YOUR TEARS’ (COOKING VINYL)
released 08 Sep 2003
So Frank Black is in therapy. The title of his latest album with his band, The Catholics, ‘Show Me Your Tears’, is what his therapist asked of him, according to the former Pixies front man. It’s hardly surprising, given the primal fury and rage he exhibited so often on his previous records, to find out that he has issues to confront, though for the listener, therapy on tape seldom makes interesting listening.
Yet against all odds, Black has come up with a fine musical document of his mental state. He has mellowed and the album is awash with melancholic musings on love and loss, though instead of his usual rock leanings, Black and his band have gone country. However the first step of any therapy involves facing the past. Black’s recent solo gigs where he played acoustic version of Pixies tracks and his talk of a possible reunion, show that he is not weighed down by his former Black Francis incarnation. On the album, the Pixies legacy is dealt with on the opening track, ‘Nadine’, a typical Black belter with a bass line straight out of Kim Deal’s top drawer.
For the rest of the album, the sound drifts satisfactorily from jaunty country and western to folk, with a consistent, yet controlled undercurrent of rock. Black insists it’s a sad album, yet this statement is increasingly undermined by the optimistic surges of the music. On ‘Horrible Day’ the lyrics recount the end-of-the-line despair of his divorce, but the song betrays a proud confidence and will to survive. While on the closing track, ‘Manitoba’, Black defiantly declares “I have seen the face of God/and I was not afraid”.
The raw fury that defined the Pixies’ output has been replaced by a more mature Frank Black. ‘Show Me Your Tears’ is a genuinely honest statement and in country music he has found a suitable medium to ally with his melodic rock ear.
No man is an island, unless he is in the bath |
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