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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
 Posted - 07/14/2005 : 05:26:56
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Don't think any of these have been posted.
http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/music/2547/
http://www.rocknworld.com/features/05/frankblack.shtml
http://www.musicomh.com/albums4/frank-black.htm
http://altmusic.about.com/od/reviewsinterviews/fr/frankblack.htm
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14855212&BRD=2318&PAG=461&dept_id=484045&rfi=6
Frank Black - Honeycomb
Reported by: blitzkrieg bob - Tuesday, Jun 28, 2005. 23:46
Frank Black in solo mode has returned with the release of Honeycomb–his first solo effort since 1996’s The Cult of Ray.
This heavily country-soaked album was recorded in just four days in Nashville with an impressive backing band. Additionally, it was also days before Frank Black’s commencement of the hugely anticipated Pixies reunion shows of 2004. The mood of this release is relaxed, even mellow at times. Still present though is Black’s quirky lyrics but with a more contemplative air. Not present is the typical Frank Black holler.
The roster of band members featured on Honeycomb reads like a blues-funk-soul dream team. United are some formidable figures who bring together histories from Stax Records, Muscle Shoals and American Studios - to name just a few. Featured in this band is the highly-esteemed guitarist and songwriter, Steve Cropper. His credentials are numerous but notably he was a co-writer and band member with Otis Redding plus a founding member of Booker T & The MG’s. The producer of Honeycomb is Jon Tiven who himself has worked with Wilson Pickett, B.B. King and Robert Plant. Frank Black obviously relished this opportunity of a lifetime - he has even stated on record his total admiration of their collective talent.
The opening track of Honeycomb is Seikie Bride which suitably sets an easy-going pace for the start of this country-bound journey. It’s then followed by the first single, I Burn Today - which as per usual with Black’s crafting of love songs, it seemingly never fails to sparkle. There are also three interesting choices of cover versions, namely Dark End of The Street, Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day and Song Of The Shrimp (from the Elvis Presley film, Girls, Girls, Girls). The tempo of Honeycomb is picked up slightly when Strange Goodbye swings around. It features a duet with Frank Black’s ex-wife, for whom this particular tune was also penned. So, don’t be fooled by the rumours that it was Courtney Love - she could never sing with such a wholesome-sounding country twang.
The title track, Honeycomb, possesses subtle reminders of a signature Pixies tune but without the in-your-face volume and snarl. The lyrics comically highlight the big mama’s boy that resides deep inside Frank Black.
The old churchyard,
Is where I faded,
She watched me while,
I fell unaided,
And in my time,
When God's army came and got me
I could not find my honeycomb…
In his usually obtuse manner, religion still heavily peppers Black’s lyrics too. It is evident in tracks like Honeycomb as well as Go Find Your Saint and Sing For Joy. Personal standout numbers include My Life Is In Storage, an ultimate song for those in the process of moving (literally or metaphorically) and Violet with it’s lyric of Violet’s the chakra for me, Violet’s the flower for me….
In his first solo release since 1996, Frank Black is in laid-back country mode. He is accompanied by a sterling band and producer who bring with them notable blues and soul music credentials. The pace of this album is easy-does-it with occasional views of an “abstract plain” coming through. It’s a sunny collection of songs with Black’s typically unique lyrical stylings. Overall, Honeycomb makes for perfect country-driving music.
Frank Black - Honeycomb Review
by Zane Ewton
Frank Black is set to release his first solo album since 1996's Cult of Ray. The premise of Honeycomb stems from a decade old conversation between Black and producer Jon Tiven. The plan was to hit a Nashville recording studio with a handful of songs and record with a few of Nashville's most respected musicians.
Early last year, days before the reunited Pixies were scheduled to start their tour, Black and Tiven were able to wrangle some of Nashville's best to record Black's songs, some old, some new and a few covers. Steve Cropper, Reggie Young, Spooner Oldham, David Hood, Anton Fig and Buddy Miller are some of the names that are attached to Honeycomb. Most Pixies fans are bound to be confused by some of those names, but collectively these men have been involved with some of the most influential American music ever made. Any recording session for rock and roll or R&B in Nashville would have had these men in their midst.
The press for Honeycomb likens it to a jazz session, musicians creating together in the moment. This is a very apt description and Honeycomb may be Black's first real stab at a singer-songwriter album. At a time when a new Pixies album would be the obvious route to travel Black offers up a complete left turn and delivers an album that may be his most personal and beautifully sleepy.
Honeycomb never gets out of control or picks the pace up too much. It is definitely a mellow album with a great debt to folk, country and all things southern. The musicians associated with this album have greatly influenced the sound and fans of Frank Black probably won't recognize anything but his voice. Speaking of his voice, he never shrieks or wails on Honeycomb. He slides and croons. Soft and emotional.
Black admits that he let personal issues frequent this album more than he ever has before. It is hard to argue with that when one of the songs is a duet with his ex-wife called "Strange Goodbye". Lyrically, his humor and quirkiness is underplayed with an emphasis on the simple pleasure of life, even if it may be a wearied outlook at times.
The album rides steady with well developed songs. None essentially stand out, which could be good or bad. "Selkie Bride" is quiet start to the album but demonstrates the feeling of the album, surreal but classic feeling. "I Burn Today" has a great guitar sound and Cropper's solo is fantastic. "Another Velvet Nightmare" is a boozy kind of song, in more ways than in the lyrical content of "Today I felt my heat / slide into my belly / so I puked it up with liquor / and I slept right where I lay / and I dreamed the back of cards / for the faces were not telling / no, I never have felt sicker / and I do not want to wake"
The covers on the album are done well, with the same mellow feeling of the album. "Dark end of the street", "Song of the Shrimp" and "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day" are some of Black's favorites that he has wanted to record for a long time. The songs that are more upbeat definitely pull the album up and have the most repeatability, including "Go Find Your Saint", "Strange Goodbye" and "Atom in My Heart".
The closing song, "Sing for Joy", ends the album on a high note. Honeycomb is a refreshingly optimistic album. It sounds like it was made in another time but still retains an energy and excitement for music that is fun to listen to. Pixies fans might be taken back, expecting to hear something in that same vein but Black has done something much different with Honeycomb, and arguably far more musically and emotionally accomplished.
Frank Black - Honeycomb (Cooking Vinyl)
UK release date: 18 July 2005
Frank Black sans The Catholics. Now what does that sound like? It's been almost a decade since Frank's last solo outing (in the form of the Cult Of Ray LP) and since then he's been finding solace in his good Catholic buddies. Heck, he even U-turned over the whole "Pixies will never reform" thing rather than venture out on his lonesome once more. So why now, Charles?
First of all, let's be honest - this is not, strictly speaking, a solo effort. Okay, you wrote all but three of the tracks, but only a fool would deny that Honeycomb's overriding appeal is to be found in its guest musicians, which largely consists of Nashville legends including guitarist Buddy Miller, organist Spooner Oldham, Anton Fig and Reggie Young, with proceedings held together by Wilson Picket and B.B. King producer Jon Tiven.
So what stops Honeycomb degenerating into mutual musical masturbation between the Real Madrid Galacticos of country music? The affair is, simply put, immensly simplistic. As Frank himself put it, the Honeycomb session players are "pre-punk", and, as such, there is no urge to show off. The level of noise they concoct wouldn't trouble a sleeping kitten, and Frank's penning is less Something Against You, more Show Me Your Tears.
Even the most fanatical of Frank's followers will tell you that his solo career has been, to varying degrees, hit and miss. The Catholics provided some stability to his writing towards the back of the 90s, but still, few laymen would have thought him to be the same fresh faced youngster that brought the world the likes of Where Is My Mind? and Debaser. Members of the Cult Of Frank will be overjoyed, then, to hear that Honeycomb is the most cohesive, consistent Frank Black record in years.
Album opener Selkie Bride is beautifully unhurried and authentic, harking back to the low gear poetry that Leonard Cohen made his own. I Burn Today, too, is instantly familiar, like those summer afternoon grooves your parents would play and you would pretend to dislike. Tiven's delicate production takes the record from strength to strength, from the (again) Cohen-esque Another Velvet Nightmare to the desert driving music of Go Find Your Saint.
In what could only be described as a massive compliment to Mr Black, Honeycomb's original compositions blend seamlessly with their covered counterparts, and it would take a country music boffin of the highest calibre to tell them apart: The touching Strange Goodbye (featuring a duet with Frank's ex-wife), which could only be a couple of years old at most, is on a par with a thoroughly enjoyable cover of Roy Bennett and Sid Tepper's Song Of The Shrimp (as seen in the Elvis movie Girls, Girls, Girls).
Honeycomb may have taken just four days in a Nashville studio to record, but it will surely be remembered as perhaps the greatest Frank Black LP (to date, at least) and perhaps even as the record that made it cool to like country again (get your coat, Keith Urban). Then again, it might just be the summer soundtrack that you spin only once a year. Either way, as the desert faiytale tones of Sing For Joy fade away, there's no question that this was four days well spent.
- David Welsh
Honey in this Comb--Frank Black Solo Album Review
From Peter Bochan,
Your Guide to Alternative Music.
Just before heading out on the road for the Pixies reunion tour, Frank Black dropped into a Nashville recording studio to lay down his first solo album since 1996’s “Cult of Ray”.
It’s very much a country soul type affair, heavy on the pedal steel and twang and light on the kind of vocal screaming dynamics that Frank uses in the Pixies and with his other incarnation—Frank Black and The Catholics. This interest in country and western should come as no surprise to anyone who has caught any of Frank’s solo tours --over the years he has opened shows with obscure Johnny Horton numbers, selections from Dylan’s “Self Portrait” as well as wearing elaborate cowboy shirts on stage while looping “All The Pretty Horses” through the house sound system.
“Honeycomb” comes out on Black Porch and contains 11 Black Americana type originals including the first single “I Burn Today” with a heavy nod to a Buffalo Springfield guitar lick from “Sit Down I Think I Love You” circa 1966. It’s crystal clear acoustic fun from start to finish. The three covers include a bizarre choice from the obscure Elvis Presley film catalogue---“Song of The Shrimp” from “Girls, Girls, Girls” in which the baby shrimp bids his parents goodbye while he jumps into the shrimp boat to head for New Orleans and the Creole girls who’ll coax him out of his shell. None of the shrimp seems to think this is a bad life threatening thing but it’s the closest to “God is Seven” you’ll find on this disc. There is also a sweet redo of the Sir Douglas Quintet song “Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day”—unreleased in the groove day it’s now covered in fine fashion, as is “Dark End Of the Street” written by Dan Penn in whose studios these mellow sessions were held. Backed by keyboardist Spooner Oldham, guitarist Steve Cropper and drummer Billy Block, Frank brings a laid back pre-punk read to the usual Black questions “Is Your Mind Gone---?” and “Are You Dog Tired?”. I think this is one that could grow on you.
Music
CD Spotlight
07/14/2005
Black light
It's a slightly surreal experience hearing Frank Black take on the soul classic "Dark End of the Street" on his new album, Honeycomb. One of the definite dark ballads in the R&B canon, it's not an easy fit for a yelping iconoclast who once gave us "Nimrod's Son" and "Wave of Mutilation." But Black's unironic commitment to the song - and his tentative groping for the proper delivery - bridges the gap between his pipes and his aspirations. You don't for a minute believe you're listening to the tortured James Carr, but you're willing to accept that Black knows something about guilt and shame.
"Dark End of the Street" aside, Honeycomb really isn't Black's foray into authentic Southern soul, even if he leans on the backing of Muscle Shoals bassist David Hood, Stax guitar great Steve Cropper, and Memphis' American Studios vet Reggie Young. Recorded in Nashville at a studio owned by famed songwriter/producer Dan Penn (co-writer of "Dark End of the Street"), it's modeled on another album cut in Nashville by an outsider: Bob Dylan's 1966 classic Blonde on Blonde. In fact, Black toyed with the idea of calling this disc Black on Blonde, before deciding that he might be overplaying his hand.
The album's first single, "I Burn Today" has the lithe feel, fluid guitar picking, and muted brushwork of Blonde on Blonde standouts such as "I Want You" and "Just Like A Woman." Just as Dylan adapted the slick professionalism of his Music City players into something between their country and his bluesy rock, Black is aiming for a specific hybrid.
When the songs match the musicianship, as on the classically complex existential lament "My Life Is In Storage," it's like hearing a more accomplished Pixies with their amps turned down so as not to wake the neighbors. The album's ultimate masterstroke, however, is an endearingly faithful reading of San Antonio icon Doug Sahm's "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day." A snapshot of Sahm basking in the Summer of Love warmth of the Bay Area hippie scene, it shouldn't hold any particular relevance for Black. But Black has always recognized the value of a good tune, and on Honeycomb he writes and covers some of the best of his solo career.
By Gilbert Garcia
©San Antonio Current 2005 |
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OldManInaCoffeeCan
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1467 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2005 : 05:29:56
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Thanks brother, this will give me something to read instead of working today...I'll get back with you as to my opinion of whether these reviewers know what they speak of...What did you think of the reviews?
 I joined the noisy cult of six-sixty-six when I somehow agreed to the Registration Policy |
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fbc
-= Modulator =-
United Kingdom
4903 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2005 : 05:36:35
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only 5 new reviews, carl?
what you playing at?
you slackin' boy!
( thankyou!) |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2005 : 05:37:24
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| Really positive. I don't think I've read a bad review of this yet! |
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2005 : 06:10:35
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Hi Carl,
Most of these have been posted below - see the relevant threads for more responses!
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2005 : 16:45:17
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| Really?! I check out FB Making Noise a lot, hav'nt seen 'em!! Sorry if they've already been posted!! ;) |
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Daisy Girl
~ Abstract Brain ~
Belize
5305 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2005 : 21:34:09
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Wow!!! What amazing reviews!!!!!!!!!
Here's my fave quote (tough choice tho)
"In his first solo release since 1996, Frank Black is in laid-back country mode. He is accompanied by a sterling band and producer who bring with them notable blues and soul music credentials. The pace of this album is easy-does-it with occasional views of an “abstract plain” coming through. It’s a sunny collection of songs with Black’s typically unique lyrical stylings. Overall, Honeycomb makes for perfect country-driving music."
ok i saw the smilie face rating on one of the reviews... four smilies ... nice!!!
here's mine (out of four)!!!
   
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Edited by - Daisy Girl on 07/14/2005 21:34:54 |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 07/15/2005 : 06:13:21
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http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=1372642005
Wave of meditation for Frank
Fiona Shepherd
FRANK BLACK: HONEYCOMB ****
COOKING VINYL, £11.99
THIS COULD BE the last solo venture we hear from Frank Black for quite some time, given that the Pixies, the influential cult band he fronted for six years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, are currently enjoying one of the most commercially and critically successful comebacks ever, and seem happy enough to keep touring the world until they fall off the edge of it.
Launching his solo career shortly before the Pixies' initial break-up in 1993, frontman Black Francis became Frank Black and in the 11 years between split and re-formation produced nine solo albums - latterly with his backing group the Catholics - which indulged his love of surf guitar music and lyrical obsession with UFOs and the often alien habits of human beings.
Honeycomb is a change of pace and style for Black. It was recorded in four days last April - just before he headed out on the relentless Pixies comeback trail - at Dan Penn's Better Songs and Gardens studio in Nashville. It sounds like it was the ideal soothing medicine for Black to sup before the intensive touring onslaught began.
Penn, who engineered and sang on the album, is a revered songwriter and producer who was a major player in the southern soul scene of the 1960s and 1970s. His understated country soul style has clearly rubbed off on Black, as the bug-eyed screamer is in mellow vocal mode throughout Honeycomb, even if some of his lyrics are as oblique as ever.
The music is a joy - inevitably, since Penn drafted in many of his fellow veteran session men from the celebrated Muscle Shoals Studios and the Stax Records diaspora, including guitarist Steve Cropper. Cropper co-wrote Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour - coincidentally, the first song that Black ever sang in public.
The honour, it appears, was all Black's. He describes the Honeycomb sessions as "the most moving and mind-blowing experience I've ever had in my musical career. This was the only time that I have ever been in a studio and had the strange feeling that I was witnessing something spiritual." Impressive words given that, for many, anywhere the Pixies walk becomes consecrated ground.
The recording is as relaxed, natural and intuitive as one would expect from musicians of such pedigree. "When we were recording, those guys didn't even look at each other," says Black. "They closed their eyes and they meant it." Most tracks were recorded simply and organically - one-take affairs with minimal overdubbing and maximum warmth. As a result, Honeycomb is easy listening, without any of the middle-of-the-road associations.
Opening track Selkie Bride sets the gentle countrified tone with its leisurely build to a rolling melody, delicate arrangement and off-beat subject matter - though not rampantly eccentric, by Black's standard - which borrows the Orkney mythology of a beguiling seal people and relocates it to New Orleans. The track drops off rather abruptly at the end, leaving impressions of the storytelling knack of Smog's Bill Callahan in its wake.
The title track also weaves an intriguing web with a few simple strokes and a plaintive vocal from Black, who can still surprise with the versatility of his voice. Elsewhere, he tries the deadpan Bob Dylan or Lou Reed conversational style on the rootsy Go Find Your Saint.
Given the company in which he found himself, he chose to cover Penn's best-loved song, Dark End of the Street, and did it beautifully, with sensitivity, yearning and more soul than we have probably ever heard from Black. At times it's so lovely that he recalls the dusky softness of Al Green. It also overshadows Black's own compositions, which are mostly charming but don't get under your skin the same way.
There are two more covers in the collection, a subtle rhythm'n'blues take on Song of the Shrimp, from the Elvis Presley film Girls! Girls! Girls! and Doug Sahm's Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day, which sounds as if it could have been beamed in from a 1970s Beach Boys album.
It's the sound rather than the songs that make Honeycomb the album it is. Strange Goodbye, for example, is just an amiable trad country strum in the Emmylou Harris vein, but it sounds so intimate and immediate that co-vocalist Jean Black could be standing just by your shoulder.
The White Stripes have already shown what can be achieved in a short recording time, without all the knobs on.
In these days of huge budgets and multiple producers, Honeycomb serves as another reminder that the old lo-fi approach in the hands of modest experts can produce far more emotional results.
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Jontiven
= Cult of Ray =
USA
347 Posts |
Posted - 07/16/2005 : 07:19:35
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This from the new issue of BILLBOARD, the LEAD SPOTLIGHT REVIEW:
FRANK BLACK
Album Title: Honeycomb
Producer(s): Jon Tiven
Genre: ROCK
Label/Catalog Number: Back Porch/EMI
Release Date: July 19
Source: Billboard Magazine
Originally Reviewed: July 23, 2005
Having parted ways with his band the Catholics and lately frequenting big venues with the reunited Pixies, rock troubadour Frank Black returns as a solo artist with "Honeycomb," recorded live in Nashville with some of the city's most esteemed talents. Consummate professional that he is, Black turns this exercise (recorded in a week on the eve of the Pixies tour) into one of his finest hours. With the likes of Steve Cropper, Spooner Oldham, David Hood and Anton Fig on the job, Black's soulful songs bloom in unexpected ways. It is by and large an album about loneliness, and it is beautifully expressed in moments like the bluesy, mournful guitar solo in "My Life Is in Storage" or the haunting "Lone Child." Black has often had a yearning for the old-time heart of rock'n'roll, and on "Honeycomb," he gets very close. —Troy Carpenter
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 07/16/2005 : 09:10:14
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That review is nothing short of a coup!
Sometimes, no matter how shitty things get, you have to just do a little dance. - Frank
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 07/16/2005 : 09:11:33
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| Cool, thanks for posting! |
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 07/16/2005 : 14:46:33
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I like Troy Carpenter's reviews. This was for Show me your tears - he was a reviewer who gave the Catholics - and gives Honeycomb, their/its due:
Modern-day troubadour Frank Black is still trudging up the old highway of classic rock songcraft, and "Show Me Your Tears" -- his sixth album with his band the Catholics -- takes listeners several miles further down that road. The 13-track disc is populated with high, lonesome soundscapes that condense the Americana epics of last year's "Black Letter Days" into concentrated studies of tears-in-the-whiskey depression.
"Show Me Your Tears" isn't quite as expansive or thematically coherent as other recent efforts like 2001's "Dog in the Sand" and 2002's "Devil's Workshop," but it does exude a certain savoir faire, in that Black's raw rock'n'roll abilities are still flourishing. He's got the hard-rockin' band, the hooky riff supply and the one-of-a-kind howling voice all working in top shape.
But the album's signature is its exploration of the sadder moments of life, exemplified by a host of downtrodden characters: "Hiram said to John 'have you met my wife? / one day she'll be yours, when I lose my life,'" Black croons on "Everything Is New." The prophecy comes true, and worse: "Seven years later after that same gig / John took the wheel but when he got to the bridge / Billy Jean was alone for the second time."
The album was recorded live, and Black's crack band proves itself adept at cranking out all-out rockers like "Jaina Blues," the barroom blues of "New House of the Pope" and cathartic pop like closer "Manitoba." Few would have anticipated this career path a decade ago -- when Black released his first solo album -- but at this late date, the artist continues to grow musically and wend his way across the grand landscape of rock.
--Troy Carpenter
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
Edited by - Ten Percenter on 07/18/2005 02:29:36 |
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 07/16/2005 : 14:56:29
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And now even more from Troy Carpenter on Honeycomb, I'll drink to it too Troy:
http://www.nudeasthenews.com/reviews/1205
Frank Black
Honeycomb
Back Porch Records, 2005
RiYL: Lambchop, Dylan's Nashville Skyline, American Music Club
Frank Black is a man of many guises, and a rare kind of entertainer in today's world. He's a performer of a classic mold, eager and able to keep playing music, recording and touring for decades despite life's changes, bands and partnerships coming and going.
He busted up his longtime band the Catholics a couple years back and has spent 2004 and 2005 soaking up some long-overdue adulation on a couple megatours as frontman of his other, more famous and influential band the Pixies. And now we get the return of Frank Black "solo" with the album Honeycomb -- the big guy crooning a set of humble tunes backed by some of Nashville's finest session musicians, including Steve Cropper, Spooner Oldham, David Hood and Anton Fig.
Judging from the audiences at the recent Pixies performances compared to those at Catholics shows from a few years back, there are fans out there who are only familiar with Frank's work as a youth, in which he screamed along to his own angular post-punk, pre-grunge UFO tales and masturbation fantasies as Pixies leader Black Francis.
Such a fan will probably greet the release of Honeycomb with surprise and wonder how the singer of "Broken Face" and "Planet Of Sound" fits in with this country motif. But those who have followed his career over the past decade realize that the new record is hardly a departure for big Frank. His most recent recorded work (see: Black Letter Days and Show Me Your Tears) leaned heavily on a style of rootsy rock and roll that could probably best be termed Americana. Recording with Spooner, Steve and co. couldn't have been a more natural step for this first post-Catholics Black release.
The record was recorded quickly, in about a business week's worth of 9-5 sessions, befitting all the participants' favored recording methods. Ever since 1998's Frank Black And The Catholics, Black has endeavored to make all his recordings playing live to two-track. It requires a talented band and a lack of reliance on overdubs, meaning what you hear on the record is what the musicians heard while they were playing in the studio. There's a kind of honesty conveyed by listening to such a record, and Honeycomb is no exception.
Black, now a remarried man and new father, was going through a divorce around the time he wrote this album, and it's chock-a-block with breakup songs, a hint that Black probably gave a little more of himself on Honeycomb than he usually likes to in his writing. Songs like "Another Velvet Nightmare," "Strange Goodbye," and "Lone Child" convey the mindset of a man lost at sea emotionally, crooning and musing on days gone by and wondering what to do with life from this moment on. The band really does a great job filling in these songs with music that fits the mood splendidly. The haunting guitar solo in "My Life Is In Storage," for instance, is about as sad and beautiful as the instrument can be.
Which is not to say the entire album is a downer. The Sir Douglas Quintet cover "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day" lives up to its name as the record's most upbeat moment, and closer "Sing For Joy," while rife with depressing lyrics, has a positive message -- sing for joy and laughs, because it doesn't do anyone any good to focus on the bad stuff in life.
The jaunty "Song Of The Shrimp," an Elvis Presley cover from the "Girls, Girls, Girls" movie, is a slightly bizarre bluesy parable that illustrates what things would be like if the old weird Frank Black had been a country singer. "Goodbye Mommy Shrimp, and Papa shake my hand," the protagonist hails in the chorus, "Here come the shrimp boat for to take me to Lou-see-an'." In an Aesop-like turn in that the young crustacean's enthusiasm to make it big in life leads to his demise, but he jumps into the net a happy shrimp.
Frank's measured crooning on many of the songs shows him really trying hard to live up to the prestige of the band he's playing with, and he comes across as a good singer. Here's a guy who has an almost 20-year career going in rock and roll, and tens of thousands of fans, but you can tell he's still trying to find himself as a musician and he has insecurities as most of us do. But he doesn't need to, because Black has proven himself a talent in almost everything he's put his hands to. Honeycomb is just another notch in his formidable belt, and the beat goes on. There's enough highway and enough rock and roll clubs in this country to keep Frank Black going for decades to come. I'll drink to that.
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 07/17/2005 : 16:39:52
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The Times and The Sunday Times Culture section review:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14932-1695487,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2774-1692253,00.html
July 16, 2005
Frank Black
Honeycomb (Cooking Vinyl)
After the Pixies split up in 1993, their singer and chief songwriter, Black Francis, changed his name to the more prosaic Frank Black and embarked on a similarly workmanlike solo career. As albums rolled past, it seemed as if Black was one of those artists dependent on the peculiar chemistry of his first band: inspired with the Pixies, unremarkable without them.
The good news is that the band’s triumphant reunion in 2004 has provoked Black into making his finest solo album, though not the one that you might expect. Just before the Pixies’ tour began last summer, Black spent five days in Nashville recording tracks with a bunch of country-soul veterans — most notably Steve Cropper and Spooner Oldham — who had never heard of him. Unlike the screaming surrealist that he became with the Pixies, on Honeycomb Black is a rueful and understated divorcé, easing cautiously into middle-age.
There is a danger here that these fabulously laid-back musicians will run rings round the star-struck indie interloper. But apart from a weedy stab at Dan Penn and Chips Moman’s Dark End of the Street, Black acquits himself admirably. Clearly, while the Pixies might guarantee him a pension, this warm, wounded and thoughtful music is where Black’s heart lies now.
JM
July 17, 2005
Pop: New Releases: Frank Black: Honeycomb
MARK EDWARDS
FRANK BLACK
Honeycomb
Cooking Vinyl COOKCD341
Context is everything. Honeycomb was made before the Pixies got back together, and, had it been released then, it would probably have received a dismissive or churlish response from a world desperate for Black to sound the way he used to. Now that he has come up with those particular goods — the riveting, committed and apparently continuing Pixies reunion — we’re all probably in a much better mood to say, okay, Frank, show us what else you’ve got. What Frank’s got is this Nashville album: a collection of gentle, subtle, somewhat soulful Americana, recorded at Dan Penn’s studio with a bunch of veteran session musicians, among them Steve Cropper. This is, at the very least, a charming, understated country-soul record, and almost certainly the kind of album that will get better and better over time. Three stars
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Llamadance
> Teenager of the Year <
United Kingdom
2543 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 01:08:36
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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/music/orl-calrec15a_murv071505jul15,0,5888109.story?coll=orl-calmusictop
Frank Black: Honeycomb (4 stars out of 5)
Frank Black is a natural in Nashville.
Jim Abbott | Sentinel Pop Music Critic
Posted July 15, 2005
Whatever you say, you can't accuse Frank Black of capitalizing on the Pixies' highly touted reunion.
On Honeycomb, his first solo album since 1996's The Cult of Ray, Black goes about as un-Pixies as one could imagine: convening in Nashville, Tenn., with a legendary soul producer to record an understated collection of country-rock ballads loosely modeled after Bob Dylan's classic Blonde on Blonde.
Honeycomb, in stores Tuesday, might baffle Pixies' fans eager for some odd sonic twists, but its conventional approach is loaded with subtle charms.
Produced by Jon Tiven (Wilson Pickett, B.B. King), these 14 songs were recorded over four days at the home studio of songwriter Dan Penn, who has penned classics for Aretha Franklin and Solomon Burke, among others.
Old-school elite also populated Black's studio band. Stax record fixture Steve Cropper played guitar in an ensemble that also included bassist David Hood (Traffic) and keyboardist Spooner Oldham, a Muscle Shoals fixture. Emmylou Harris collaborator Buddy Miller also provided guitar.
Although the album came together in a hurry, the songs sound like the handiwork of a seasoned unit. The 11 originals reflect Black's recent personal life, which includes a divorce and relocation from Los Angeles to Portland, Ore.
"My Life Is in Storage" rides another of Black's signature chord progressions, jumping unexpectedly from major to minor moods. "Atom in My Heart" is a light-hearted love song with a lilting country beat.
There are a few twists, too: Black's duet partner in "Strange Goodbye" is his ex-wife and the strange "Song of the Shrimp" is a cover of a song that Elvis sang in Girls! Girls! Girls!. In Black's hands, it sounds sophisticated, as does his poppy version of Doug Sahm's "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day."
If Nashville is just a side trip, Black makes it seem like home on Honeycomb.
Jim Abbott
jabbott@orlandosentinel.com
________________________________________________________________________________
No power in the 'verse can stop me
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 02:30:41
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A 7 out of 10 review in Americana.UK by David Cowling:
http://www.americana-uk.com/html/reviews.html
Frank picks his band and songs with care resulting in a labour of love. If you want to know what the Pixies would sound like countrified this record will not give you any clues. At times it sounds much more like the first couple of Robert Forster records after the Go-Betweens split and ‘My Life is in Storage’ has more than a passing resemblance to the G-B’s ‘Secondhand Furniture’. With the players on the record it was always going to have a warm laid-back feel: Steve Cropper, Buddy Miller, Spooner Oldham and the rest have removed all the sharp objects leaving a friendly faithful Labrador of a sound. The guitars run and fetch the sticks, the keyboards shake themselves dry and Frank chews on the lyric as though attacking a slipper safe on an island of carpet. The other reference point is the Bonnie Prince Billy re-recordings where top-notch players are brought in to give an entirely conventional reading of the songs. For innovative performers the conventional could be seen as a left field move, and what better way to off-set the recent Pixies reunion than a set of songs that avoid the screaming and the staccato dynamics. Here the songs flow like honey, sweet and substantial - there is a relaxed feel about the whole thing: ‘another velvet nightmare’ conveys not some dreadful calamity but a minor inconvenience, the pianos and guitars almost somnambulant on their waltz around the melody. His reading of ‘dark end of the street’ approaches blue-eyed country soul and plants a big kiss on its lips and provides him opportunity to show just what he can do. Most of these songs were done in a couple of takes and it’s testimony to the intuitive playing of the veteran session men that they sound so complete. Perhaps the most telling lines on the record are sung by Jean Black on ‘strange goodbye’: ‘I used to walk in a big black cloud / You took my hand and you led me out’ - a lovely duet full of hope and optimism that is the highpoint of the record. To be honest this record sounds like it has been around for ages - ‘atom in my heart’ makes perfect sense, the instruments sounding like life-long friends and Frank just seems right at home among them. ‘violet’ on the other hand is a gentle waltz barely causing a ripple and having all the more impact for its stillness, and the closing ‘sing for joy’ sounds like the perfect end to any gig all na na na’s, a bubbling table fountain of guitars and piano, and a chorus that everyone can shout. When you get right down to it, the record shows Frank’s love and respect for the musicians and what they have created - here he adds a few more classics to their CV’s.
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 02:32:44
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A poorish review by Mike Bennett:
http://www.fufkin.com/columns/bennett/bennett_rev_07_05.htm
I have to hand it to Frank Black. He could have tried to cash in on the success of the recent Pixies reunion tour in some form or fashion. Made an album of his band doing Pixies songs, or writing material that brought everyone back to the good ol' days. But Black dances to a different tune. In this case, a country or R & B tune. Now, I know that Black isn't immune to R & B -- he once recorded a cover of the old rock ‘n' roll standard "Duke of Earl". Still, Americana isn't exactly what comes to mind when I think of Frank Black.
On this effort, Black got together with some session cats (including Steve Cropper and Spooner Oldham) and produced what is a pretty laid back album. One thing that becomes quickly apparent is that Black's voice is extremely limited. He seems to recognize this too, as he muddles his way through a lot of the material here in his characteristic lower range. However, when he tackles the classic "Dark End of the Street" (James Carr's best known hit), he actually gets to near falsetto range. There isn't much power in his voice, but he carries the tune very well. The one thing that really strikes me about this cover is that Black is very engaged with the song. I would guess it is one of his all-time favorites. Yet, this is merely a decent version, tastefully rendered.
Indeed, this is a Star-kist Charlie the Tuna type album -- if you prefer something with taste to something that tastes good, this might be for you. At times, you might think that you've dug up a lost disc by Mark Knopfler's Notting Hillbillies. The pleasures on this record are subtle. For example, the first single off the album, "I Burn Today", is a very low key shuffle, with Black singing in a subdued voice. There's some delicate lead guitar playing and a pleasant ruminating feel. The title cut and "Atom in My Heart" are other songs in a similar vein that are likewise memorable.
Quite a few songs tread in that sleepy territory. "Go Find Your Saint" is conspicuous because it sounds more like a standard Frank Black song, that could have easily turned up on one of his solo records. What makes this song particularly intriguing is you can hear the Frank Black style, but when performed with the reserve demonstrated here, you can also hear R & B roots that wouldn't be obvious in a rocked up version. It's not a great song, yet it's illuminating.
And even if the music isn't quirky, a couple of cover versions show that Black can still offer something out of the ordinary. Black remakes Doug Sahm's "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day", a simple playful song that is as comfortable as a nap in hammock under shade trees. This song is performed without a shred of irony, and it's a great mellow summer tune, done fairly well here. I can't comment on the comparison of Elvis Presley's original version of "Song of the Shrimp" (from the movie Girls! Girls! Girls!), but I'll hazard a guess that the King didn't perform it with the seriousness that Black does here. Black treats it like a modern Bob Dylan number.
Unfortunately, in the effort to chill, this music, though always competently rendered, is sometimes kind of lifeless. The worst offender is "My Life is in Storage", which seems to have the ingredients to be a good song, but it is so plodding, which is exacerbated by Black's tasteful but too lengthy guitar solo that winds the track down. Overall, the unmemorable tracks equal if not exceed the worthwhile ones. Although I give Black credit for trying something different, this album really doesn't play to his strengths, and highlight the weakness of his voice in its lower register. I'm sure this was a great experience for him, but it doesn't translate to much more than a pleasantly bland LP.
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 02:38:11
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This is more like it, a review by Heather Phares in allmusic.com:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ayazefrk4gfn
Leave it to Frank Black to have his cake and eat it, too: By releasing Honeycomb, his Nashville-recorded collaboration with session legends including Steve Cropper, Anton Fig and Spooner Oldham, while his reunion tour with the Pixies continued, he could follow his bliss and please his longtime fans. Those who thought Black's later work sounded like the output of a bad bar band probably won't get Honeycomb either, but at least the reunited Pixies should satisfy their longings to hear him shriek about surrealism and incest like he did in the good old days. On paper, Black and Cropper, Fig, et. al. might not seem like the likeliest fit, but the early-rock roots of the Pixies' mutated surf-punk-pop and the country and roots-rock flirtations of his later career suggest otherwise (and "In the Midnight Hour," which Cropper co-wrote, was one of the first songs that Black ever played live). Honeycomb's songs feel tailored to the experience of recording with these musicians in this location, and have a sophistication that Black might not have been able to get with another group of players: the affably drunken "Another Velvet Nightmare" floats by on Oldham's elegantly wasted piano lines, and the band as a whole makes the cover of Dan Penn & Chips Moman's "Dark End of the Street" that much more soulful and genuine. Another cover, Doug Sahm's "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day," pays tribute to one of the most prominent influences on Black's later post-Pixies work. Yet, despite the homages to his influences, the musicians playing with him and the very town in which the album was recorded, Honeycomb is one of Frank Black's most intimate collections of songs, and the closest he's come to a traditional, singer/songwriter solo album. Even in this more straightforward territory, though, Black's imagery remains unique: "Selkie Bride" places the beguiling sea spirit of Celtic legend in modern times; the woman he's looking for in the title track has "cherry brown lips of maple"; and "Atom in My Heart" mixes straight-up country with science. Like Show Me Your Tears, Honeycomb is a remarkably personal album, and it's still a bit of a shock to hear one of alternative rock's most famously cryptic artists reveal so much about his life in his music. Black's songs are increasingly about coming to terms with life's realities and disappointments, but they end up feeling more liberating than depressing. "I Burn Today" and "Lone Child" carry on with the dancing-on-your-troubles approach of Show Me Your Tears. "Strange Goodbye," meanwhile, is a remarkably cheery post-mortem of Black's marriage — sung as a duet with his soon to be ex-wife, Jean — that ends up being one of the highlights of his post-Pixies career. Considering that the album was recorded in just four days, Honeycomb is a remarkably strong album, and even on weaker tracks like "My Life is in Storage," the playing on it always shines. Unlike some of his peers, not only is Frank Black still here, he's making music that isn't just a rehash of his salad days. With the therapy/roots-rock of Show Me Your Tears, the disc of Pixies "covers" on Frank Black Francis and this album, Black proves that he isn't just open to change in his solo work, he embraces it. Honeycomb is steeped in tradition, yet manages to buck it at the same time; while not all Pixies and Frank Black fans will appreciate its mellow maturity, it's an intimate treat for those who follow its lead.
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
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fumanbru
* Dog in the Sand *
Canada
1462 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 06:07:31
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ya, that was a great review. thanks for posting all these.
i really like these lines,
"Black's songs are increasingly about coming to terms with life's realities and disappointments, but they end up feeling more liberating than depressing. "I Burn Today" and "Lone Child" carry on with the dancing-on-your-troubles approach of Show Me Your Tears."
"Unlike some of his peers, not only is Frank Black still here, he's making music that isn't just a rehash of his salad days. With the therapy/roots-rock of Show Me Your Tears, the disc of Pixies "covers" on Frank Black Francis and this album, Black proves that he isn't just open to change in his solo work, he embraces it."
 "I joined the Cult of Frank/ cause I'm a real go-getter!" |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 06:43:39
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The Independant, Observer, Guardian and Irish Times reviews;
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article299151.ece
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1530024,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/reviews/story/0,11712,1528605,00.html
http://www.ireland.com/theticket/articles/2005/0708/3722347897TK0807CDS1.html
Album: Frank Black(It gets 3 out 0f 5 stars)
Honeycomb, COOKING VINYL
By Andy Gill
Published: 15 July 2005
Since his last solo album, 1996's The Cult Of Ray, Frank Black's career has been in freefall through the unrewarding years spent fronting The Catholics. Things have recently improved thanks to the Pixies reunion, which should draw a little more attention to this latest solo outing, his best effort in ages. Honeycomb was recorded in Nashville with a select crew of Southern soul sessioneers incorporating the Muscle Shoals' rhythm section, legends Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, and an all-star guitar strike-force of Steve Cropper, Reggie Young and Buddy Miller. The tracks were nailed in just one or two takes, and their relaxed facility works to the songs' advantage, smoothing the way for such oddities as the astro-physical metaphor of "Atom In Your Heart" ("you burn inside me like a star") and the startling opening lines of "Another Velvet Nightmare" ("Today I felt my heart slide into my belly/So I puked it up with liquor"). Just Frank's usual gamut of sci-fi, shock-horror and sub-aquatic kitsch, in other words, set to a slew of country-soul grooves studded with pithy lead guitar. "Strange Goodbye", a break-up duet with Jean Black, could pass muster as a country standard; but the most charming thing here is a cover of Penn's soul standard "Dark End Of The Street", taken in Black's disarmingly sweet upper-register - the voice of a fallen angel, even.
Since his last solo album, 1996's The Cult Of Ray, Frank Black's career has been in freefall through the unrewarding years spent fronting The Catholics. Things have recently improved thanks to the Pixies reunion, which should draw a little more attention to this latest solo outing, his best effort in ages. Honeycomb was recorded in Nashville with a select crew of Southern soul sessioneers incorporating the Muscle Shoals' rhythm section, legends Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, and an all-star guitar strike-force of Steve Cropper, Reggie Young and Buddy Miller. The tracks were nailed in just one or two takes, and their relaxed facility works to the songs' advantage, smoothing the way for such oddities as the astro-physical metaphor of "Atom In Your Heart" ("you burn inside me like a star") and the startling opening lines of "Another Velvet Nightmare" ("Today I felt my heart slide into my belly/So I puked it up with liquor"). Just Frank's usual gamut of sci-fi, shock-horror and sub-aquatic kitsch, in other words, set to a slew of country-soul grooves studded with pithy lead guitar. "Strange Goodbye", a break-up duet with Jean Black, could pass muster as a country standard; but the most charming thing here is a cover of Penn's soul standard "Dark End Of The Street", taken in Black's disarmingly sweet upper-register - the voice of a fallen angel, even.
Pop CD of the week
That old black magic
Kitty Empire
Sunday July 17, 2005
The Observer
Frank Black
Honeycomb
(Cooking Vinyl)
On the eve of the Pixies' reunion tour last year, Charles Thompson(aka the Pixies' Black Francis, known in recent years as Frank Black) pitched up in Nashville and recorded his 10th album since the demise of the Pixies, with an illustrious set of country soul session musicians. None of the Muscle Shoals, Stax and American Studios old-timers knew or cared who he was. They finished the record in under a week. Soul music is often the last refuge of the woebegone and Nashville, the last refuge of the rock musician looking for some substance. But neither truism applies here; both are too pat to encompass this record's unhurried pleasantness and its author's mindset.
The Nashville studio atmosphere would have been in sharp contrast to that of the impending Pixies tour. Although the reunion of (arguably) the most esteemed band in indie-dom would be a runaway success, the Pixies were having to grit their teeth in each others' company, as the unresolved tensions of their split resurfaced.
Thompson, meanwhile, had arrived not so much at a turning point as a spaghetti junction. His latest backing band, the Catholics, had dissolved after half-a-dozen well-received but sluggishly selling albums. Thompson's divorce had come through. He'd just moved from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon; his stuff was in storage.
One of the key songs here, 'My Life Is in Storage', opens with this swift update: 'I had a castle/ I had no hassles/ Now tears are tassels'.
But Honeycomb is not, as you might expect, the sound of an ageing alt rock guitar demigod using country music to mitigate his damage. It's more complicated and thoughtful than that, although love and loss are well-represented.
This is easily Thompson's prettiest-sounding record, enjoying the combined forces of engineer Dan Penn, guitarists Steve Cropper, Buddy Miller and Reggie Young, organist Spooner Oldham, bassist David Hood and percussionists Chester Thompson, Anton Fig, Billy Block and Akil Thompson.
If anything, Thompson sounds a bit awed by these lifer musicians, a little deferential as he tells his stories. But with this awe comes a sense of ease, even when Thompson dredges up his emotional muck.
Indeed, Black has refined his solo output to a new level of gentle restraint, aided by the burnished playing of his borrowed band. His drunkard's lament, 'Another Velvet Nightmare' ('Today, I felt my heart slide into my belly/ So I puked it up with liquor and slept right where I lay') is the gory exception.
This being Thompson, there are some weird moments breaking up the warm back porch mood that otherwise might settle. The title track is uneasy, with the superb group of lifelong musicians taking on Thompson's queasy, reedy voice. The surrealism that Thompson mined so electrically in the Pixies flashes on and off. 'Selkie Bride' sees Thompson's narrator wedding a seal-woman 'from the bottom of the sea'.
There are wolves and tarot cards and plenty of rattling, especially on 'Go Find Your Saint', which is a Pixies song by way of Bob Dylan. The Dylan echoes are no accident: Honeycomb's informal working title was 'Black on Blonde', a reference to Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, recorded in similar musical circumstances. The influence of Leonard Cohen also looms large.
This being Nashville, there are covers. Thompson will never be a soul singer, but hearing a man best known for screaming and barking attempt the poignant poses on 'Dark End of the Street' (written by Penn) is heartwarming. Most revelatory is the excellent Doug Sahm's 'Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day', where Thompson's voice sounds most at home. 'You're the king of what you survive,' he beams.
The contrast between Honeycomb and the Pixies's live tour souvenir albums that followed couldn't be greater. Their comeback was a success, but Honeycomb proves that Thompson isn't living on past glories alone.
Frank Black, Honeycomb
(gets 5 out of 5 stars!)(Cooking Vinyl)
Betty Clarke
Friday July 15, 2005
The Guardian
Just before the Pixies began their reunion tour in 2004, Frank Black holed up in Nashville, surrounded himself with legendary session musicians and recorded his first solo album for eight years. Guaranteed to confound those still wallowing in the glorious resurrection of the shrieking, screaming Black Francis, he's discovered a mellow maturity in Southern soul - and without losing his punk rock perversity or poetry.
Against a wash of guitars, simple harmonies and keyboards, his voice glides from bitter-sweet on Selkie Bride to shiver-inducing on Dark End of the Street, accompanied by songwriters Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham. Other covers, including the unlikely Song of the Shrimp from Elvis Presley's 1962 film Girls! Girls! Girls!, melt against Black's own songs without disturbing the warm, timeless mood. Strange Goodbye, for instance, a duet sung with Black's ex-wife, Jean, is a poignant snapshot of marital breakdown. But he sums up his stunning new direction best on Lone Child when he sings: "I'm not full of your hate, I'm full of my grace."
FRANK BLACK
Honeycomb Cooking Vinyl
***
Now here's something you weren't expecting - a mellow Frank Black. Conserving his nerve-shredding howl and slashing guitars for the Pixies' reunion tours, Black's first solo album since 1996's The Cult of Ray finds him in laid-back and melodious form. In the unlikely setting of Nashville, with the unexpected company of adept soul guitarists and country stalwarts, Black moseys through the byways of Americana and Memphis soul. His muted but startling lyrics on I Burn Today, Another Velvet Nightmare and Sing for Joy trace sinister intent beneath these dulcet tones, but a cover of Dark End of the Street (sung at the brittle top of his range) is astonishingly simple and surprisingly affecting. Given the unpredictable twists in his interests, there's no telling where this might lead him, but the stealthily melodic Honeycomb makes for another welcome detour. www.frankblack.net Peter Crawley
[EDIT-Ten Pencenter has already posted the Observer review, sorry! ] |
Edited by - Carl on 07/18/2005 06:53:55 |
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 07:03:46
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And the Guardian and independent are already posed too Carl!
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2005 : 07:17:17
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| Doh! |
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2005 : 02:20:06
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A rating of 3.5 out of 5, review by Aaron Richter. Don't agree with much of tis, especially the last paragraph:
http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews.php?page=F&a=1&rt=cd&rf=Frank_Black_Honeycomb_071905AR
Thank God Frank Black doesn’t listen to his critics.
He didn’t listen to those who told him not to reform the Pixies. As a result, the generation that grew up with the band was given a final hurrah and the younger fans witnessed the four stand-stills and realized a band’s stage presence can exist solely through the strength of its songs.
He didn’t listen to those who told him throughout the years to stop making solo/Catholics records. As a result, Pixies fans have a handful of mediocre albums that’ll never be as good as Surfer Rosa or Doolittle, and they now have one rather impressive solo effort, Honeycomb.
With plans for the initial Pixies reunion dates looming in his near future, Black jetted off to Nashville to spend four days in the studio with producer Jon Tiven (Wilson Pickett, B.B. King, Robert Plant) and a slew of seasoned veteran musicians, including Reggie Young, Anton Fig, Spooner Oldham and Steve Crooper. Honeycomb emerged from these brief but fruitful sessions as a unified album of Americana-tinged tracks that at times sound like nothing you would ever expect of a man who’s spent the past months with his face coated in eyeliner, screaming “It’s educational” to audiences across the world.
Black originally intended this release to be called Black on Blonde in tribute to Bob Dylan’s Blond on Blond, which has served as a muse throughout his career. Honeycomb is miles away from where Blonde on Blonde was for Dylan, but it does reside in a similar abode, with its emphasis on solid songwriting and musicianship that supports the songs rather than takes control of them.
The opening threesome -- “Selkie Bride,” “I Burn Today” and “Lone Child” -- establishes the tone that this is a side of Frank Black fans have rarely seen. The music is restrained but skilled, his vocals delicate but impassioned. And when he sings verses such as, “She said our fun its time has come/ hold my heartstrings and have yourself a strum/ no nevermore this song we will play/ I burn today, I burn today,” I feel his pain. His words hang in my mind long after the song is finished. But Honeycomb is not a forced therapy piece like Show Me Your Tears. The album is more the sound of Black honestly harnessing his inner turmoil with slight smirk of confidence and the support of some of session work’s finest players.
Given the strength of the album’s beginning, the latter half lags quite a bit, but the occasional highlight arises. Black cheekily duets with his ex-wife on “Strange Goodbye,” which touches on the couple’s somewhat amicable demise, and he ever so slightly infuses Pixies-style phrasing on “My Life in Storage,” which actually loses most of its fun when the end slows for a boring guitar solo that lasts about two minutes too long. Toss in a forgettable too-close-to-James-Taylor-for-comfort cover of “Dark End of the Street,” and Honeycomb is far from a perfect album. But when Black’s songwriting is on it’s dead on. That more than makes up for whatever filler moments accompany the otherwise stunning songwriting and musical crispness.
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2005 : 06:44:17
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http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2005/07/1803.cfm
New Releases: The Pixies Can't Slow Frank Black Down
Monday July 18, 2005 @ 04:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
It's another slow week for CD releases, but all hope is not lost. There are still a few discs coming to stores Tuesday that are worth checking out.
After The Pixies broke up in 1993, Frank Black went solo. Now amidst a tour with the reunited indie rock giants, Black releases, Honeycomb, his first totally solo disc since 1996's Cult Of Ray. For this record Black went down to Nashville to record with Steve Cropper, Anton Fig and Spooner Oldham, all legendary session musicians, instead of using his regular band, The Catholics. It's no surprise that this mellow disc includes country and rock influences and should keep his fans sufficiently interested as always.
(cool Frank pic!)
Oh, wait, found more reviews:
http://www.megastar.co.uk/essentialmusic/news/2005/07/19/sMEG01MTEyMTc4MDAyMjA.html
http://www.livedaily.com/reviews/Album_Review_Frank_Black_Honeycomb_Back_Porch-8432.html?t=98
http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_2868873
(Very small review)
Frank Black
Daisy Kay
Honeycomb
Released: 18/07/2005
(It only gets 2 out of 5 stars! )
Frank Black has been propelled back into the semi limelight thanks to the Pixies reunion, and after years spent fronting The Catholics, fans might finally sit up and take notice.
Black’s last solo offering was way back in 1996 with The Cult Of Ray, and here we have Black indulging in country legends and recording in Nashville.
Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, Steve Cropper, Reggie Young and Buddy Miller all lend their talents, and the result is a laid-back mish-mash of eclectic country mayhem.
Black’s kitsch vocals were made for country twangs with a hint of soul groove, and Atom In Your Heart and Strange Goodbye, a duet with Jean Black, slot in particularly well.
But if you’re not in the know, Honeycomb could easily pass you by, and the only thing you’d miss out on is a drop of sweetness to listen to while you have a nice cup of tea.
( Poorly reviewed, in both senses-the rating they give it and the cluelessness of the reviewer. Mish-mash of eclectic country 'mayhem'?! 'Kitsch' vocals?!)
Album Review: Frank Black, "Honeycomb" (Back Porch)
July 18, 2005 12:13 PM
by Jim Harrington
liveDaily Contributor
The obvious move would have been to release a batch of volatile, jagged rockers to capitalize on the overwhelming success of the recent Pixies reunion. So, of course, that's exactly what Frank Black didn't do.
In fact, Black's "Honeycomb" is his most un-Pixies-like solo offering to date. It's also arguably his best.
Eschewing just about every Pixies' trademark--the roaring electric guitar, the wailing vocal and the dramatic start-stop dynamics--Black draws up a new winning formula on "Honeycomb" with the help of some of the greatest names in the music business. The stellar lineup includes guitarists Steve Cropper, Buddy Miller and Reggie Young; drummers Chester Thompson, Anton Fig, Billy Block and Akil Thompson; bassist David Hood; and keyboardist Spooner Oldham.
The CD, which is Black's first effort to not feature his usual backup band, The Catholics, since 1996's "The Cult of Ray," was recorded in a smoking, four-day period in April 2004, just days before the Pixies kicked off the first leg of their reunion tour. Despite the relatively tight recording schedule, or, perhaps, because of it, "Honeycomb" feels loose and relaxed. Black sounds like he's having a great time on such breezy tracks as "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day" and "Atom in My Heart."
The pleasures to be found on the album are many and varied. There are convincing trips through country ("I Burn Today," "Atom in My Heart") and bits of the blues ("Song of the Shrimp"). Black is likely to blow some minds with his gorgeous take on the old Percy Sledge chestnut "Dark End of the Street." The disc ends in triumphant fashion with the uplifting "Sing for Joy," which is exactly what fans will want to do after listening to "Honeycomb."
Pixie, Go! Team, head South
New CDs in stores today - aside from best-of compilations from Iggy Pop, Emmylou Harris and Michael Jackson - come courtesy of a Pixie all grown up, an indie act finding its groove and one of the summer's biggest blockbuster films.
Frank Black, "Honeycomb" (Back Porch) As The Pixies were reuniting last year, frontman Frank Black had just recorded this solo album in Nashville with accomplished local musicians. The result is the stark poeticism imbuing this record, which is unlike anything the prolific Black has released.
This just in!!
http://www.patriotledger.com/articles/2005/07/19/life/life01.txt
CD review: Pixies' Black dives deep into Americana
By CHAD BERNDTSON
For The Patriot Ledger
FRANK BLACK, ‘‘Honeycomb'' (Back Porch)
Pixies frontman and Massachusetts native son Frank Black has always been something of a mystery, but his 11th solo album, ‘‘Honeycomb,'' released today, is a humdinger of an artistic left turn.
More specifically, it's a full-scale plunge into deep Americana territory, and something of a singer-songwriter masterpiece from an artist known primarily for earsplitting, ferociously spacey alt rock.
Produced by Jon Tiven, who can now add Black to a resume that includes stints with B.B. King, Wilson Pickett, John Prine and Roger McGuinn, ‘‘Honeycomb'' was recorded during a four-day powwow in Nashville, right before Black was set to embark on last year's super-successful Pixies reunion tour. The idea gestated for 10 years, allegedly stemming from a conversation Black had with Tiven in the mid-1990s.
One wonders just where Black's head must have been at the time: mere days away from a buzzed-to-the-point-of-exploding tour with an impossibly influential band he co-founded in the 1980s, there he was indulging a long-marinating jones for rock-laden country soul, alongside some of the greatest musicians and sessions players in the game. Indeed, a gallery of vets is on hand, with Muscle Shoals, American and Stax studios each duly represented, and marquee names like Spooner Oldham, Steve Cropper, Anton Fig and Buddy Miller making the rounds. Frank Black decided to go Nashville, and indeed, not to mess around.
Black has claimed in recent interviews that it was Bob Dylan's landmark 1966 disc ‘‘Blonde On Blonde'' that inspired the project - press notes go so far as to describe ‘‘Honeycomb'' as ‘‘Black On Blonde'' - but it's the classic country rock and soul sounds of those aforementioned studios that identify and invigorate the disc. While many of the folk-poet narratives indeed evoke the Dylan of ‘‘Blonde'' and ‘‘Highway 61 Revisited,'' Black's game is several shades warmer and a bit less stiltedly pretentious - a downhome sensibility that more often recalls British rock folkies like Mark Knopfler and Richard Thompson, not to mention the plains-worn edges of J.J. Cale and, in moments when Black truly has hold of his inner Nashville mojo, country legend George Jones.
The striking brilliance of ‘‘Honeycomb'' is how cannily Black connects with, renders and then throughout maintains the vibe he's going for, and Pixies fans that know Black primarily through his leveling caterwauls and earthshaking howls in songs like ‘‘Debaser,'' ‘‘Wave of Mutilation'' and ‘‘Where Is My Mind'' might be surprised at how introspectively emotive he can be. It isn't as if Black is momentarily containing his apocalyptic wails, either; he sounds on ‘‘Honeycomb'' like he belongs on the back porch and honkytonk circuit and, indeed, has been there all his musical life.
After a quiet ‘‘Selkie Bride'' to open, Black offers the album's first single, the more intense ‘‘I Burn Today,'' which suggests Buffalo Springfield and features ample stretches of Cropper's sinewy guitar tone. It's a harsher counterpoint to the disc's penultimate track, ‘‘Violet,'' tenderly written for Black's girlfriend Violet Clark. The two songs together form the album's breadth of emotions: inward-looking regret balanced with sweet reverence.
Despite an overall tone of optimism and even joy, he gets barroom filthy in ‘‘Another Velvet Nightmare,'' mournfully slurring his way through lyrics like ‘‘Today I felt my heart slide in my belly / So I puked it up with liquor'' while a cranky piano that sounds excerpted from Tom Waits' ‘‘Nighthawks at the Diner'' punctuates his every warble.
A version of the Spooner Oldham/Dan Penn classic ‘‘Dark End of the Street'' reveals still another layer. Instead of aping the song's usually dirge-like, desperado run-throughs so beloved of coffee house folkies and Gram Parsons obsessives, Black interprets the tune as the Rev. Al Green might: soulfully impassioned instead of sickly pained, with lots of falsetto flourishes and a sparkling electric piano that steps aside only to allow a syrupy guitar fill or two, along with the occasional solo. Upbeat deliveries like ‘‘Atom in My Heart'' and ‘‘Go Find Your Saint'' are similarly gospel-hinting tangents.
Black might seem like a stranger to this type of material, but its essence has always been there. During many a live show over the years, especially from solo band Frank Black and the Catholics, he's been known to galvanize audience members who didn't even know they were hearing howling versions of obscure songs by the likes of Dylan and Johnny Horton.
One of ‘‘Honeycomb's'' covers, a marvelous take on Doug Sahm's ‘‘Sunny Sunday Mill Valley Groove Day,'' is actually a song Black has recorded before, in 2000, when he and the Catholics cut a bunch of Americana songs by the likes of Sahm, Donovan Leitch and Del Shannon for an extremely rare B-sides album that was sold only at a few concerts.
The mighty Pixies themselves are only a few steps removed (and more than a few decibels more bombastic) than some of this stuff, and their invitation to perform at this year's Newport Folk Festival - they will play an acoustic set on Saturday, Aug. 6 - is not quite as surprising as it would initially suggest.
‘‘Honeycomb'' doesn't so much have takeaway moments and individually standout songs as it is a cohesive document and a fully realized and deftly executed idea. It's a start-to-finish gem: addictive, unfailingly refreshing and one of 2005's few essential releases thus far.
The Pixies play an acoustic show at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island, Saturday, Aug. 6, at Fort Adams State Park.
Copyright 2005 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Tuesday, July 19, 2005
The Philadelphia Daily News also have something about Honeycomb, but it's subscription only!! |
Edited by - Carl on 07/19/2005 08:06:05 |
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Llamadance
> Teenager of the Year <
United Kingdom
2543 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2005 : 08:39:01
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I'm following you today Carl :D
Here's the Philadelphia Daily News review:
quote:
PAINT IT BLACK: Frank Black - yeah, the Pixies post-punkster - uncorks an unexpected, down-home Americana music persona on "Honeycomb" (Back Porch). Surrounded by veteran players of the Southern soul scene, Black achieves a laconically growlin' aura, at times akin to "Nashville Skyline"-era Bob Dylan. Check out "Song of the Shrimp," the instrumental title track, and covers of Penn and Oldham's "Dark End of the Street" and Doug Sahm's "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day." A-
An A- is pretty good, but did they even listen to it....
instrumental?????
Oh, and www.bugmenot.com gives lots of logins.
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No power in the 'verse can stop me
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Jontiven
= Cult of Ray =
USA
347 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2005 : 09:01:54
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Nothing wrong with an A- !!!!!!!
And that patriot ledger article is a beaut. There's a review in the new Rolling Stone, Spin, NY Daily News......google away my friends.
Nashvillians could be in for a treat in September....that's my hint of the day.
bye,
Jon Tiven |
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2005 : 09:36:13
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I hate/love Jon and his hints. Bottoms up, you fantastic bastard!
PS I mean this in the best possible way Jon, I appreciate all your contributions here! Cheers!
watch me jumpstart as the old skin is peeled |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2005 : 10:50:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Llamadance
I'm following you today Carl :D
Here's the Philadelphia Daily News review:
quote:
PAINT IT BLACK: Frank Black - yeah, the Pixies post-punkster - uncorks an unexpected, down-home Americana music persona on "Honeycomb" (Back Porch). Surrounded by veteran players of the Southern soul scene, Black achieves a laconically growlin' aura, at times akin to "Nashville Skyline"-era Bob Dylan. Check out "Song of the Shrimp," the instrumental title track, and covers of Penn and Oldham's "Dark End of the Street" and Doug Sahm's "Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day." A-
An A- is pretty good, but did they even listen to it....
instrumental?????
Oh, and www.bugmenot.com gives lots of logins.
________________________________________________________________________________
No power in the 'verse can stop me
Thanks!! |
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OldManInaCoffeeCan
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1467 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2005 : 16:07:45
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quote:
Originally posted by Jontiven
Nothing wrong with an A- !!!!!!!
And that patriot ledger article is a beaut. There's a review in the new Rolling Stone, Spin, NY Daily News......google away my friends.
Nashvillians could be in for a treat in September....that's my hint of the day.
bye,
Jon Tiven
Mmm, Mmm, Good....I hope we get long, multiple treats in September Sir Jon Tiven, and of course I'm referring to Honeycomb shows.
As self-proclaimed Hostest with the Mostest and one of the many Ambassadors of Guitar Town, I guess I need to begin making arrangements and planning some parties, huh.
The King and you have certainly been serving up the treats since yesterday (July 18th) and today (July 19th) for everyone around the world.
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I joined the noisy cult of six-sixty-six when I somehow agreed to the Registration Policy |
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NimrodsSon
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1938 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2005 : 19:03:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Jontiven
Nothing wrong with an A- !!!!!!!
And that patriot ledger article is a beaut. There's a review in the new Rolling Stone, Spin, NY Daily News......google away my friends.
Nashvillians could be in for a treat in September....that's my hint of the day.
bye,
Jon Tiven
Any "hints" for Atlantans? It's only four hours away, you know...
¡Viva los Católicos! http://adrianfoster.dmusic.com/ |
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 01:31:48
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Don't think this one has been posted yet, from Entertainment Weekly, by David Browne, he gives Honeycomb a Grade A:
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/music/0,6115,1083265_4_0_,00.html
If you thought the Pixies reunion was a surprise, wait until you hear the direction frontman Frank Black takes on his latest solo album, Honeycomb. His lyrics are still skewed (he pines after a mythical creature in ''Selkie Bride'') and rueful (''Hold my heartstrings and have yourself a strum''). But thanks to old-school sidemen like guitarist Steve Cropper, the music is Black's take on Southern soul: spare, graceful, in the pocket, with Black himself sounding reborn and relaxed. If his old band's re-formation doesn't last, Black could have another, equally rewarding future ahead of him. Grade: A
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 01:39:33
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A 9 out of 10 review on beatsurrender.co.uk, I think this reviewer (Kev!)needs to revisit SMYT and TOTY though:
http://www.thebeatsurrender.co.uk/weekly/reviews/frank-black-honeycomb/
If in the last twenty years you have at any point considered yourself an indie kid, then the chances are that you will have done one of two things for definite. You’ll have either bought a Pixies album or single, or you’ll have danced your arse off in some sweaty little indie club to Here Comes Your Man, Planet of Sound or Monkey Gone to Heaven.
How do I know this you may wonder, well I know because every indie kid I know loves the Pixies (myself included), be it because they had a big influence on Nirvana or simply because the Pixies produced a hell of a lot of good music and the original line up has continued to do so through various other outlets since the demise of the band.
I’ll bet something else as well. I bet the majority of those people wouldn’t consider buying a Frank Black solo album. Yes the die-hards will and do buy his solo records, but on the whole commercially Frank Black hasn’t sold any quantity of records for about ten years. The reason for this is probably that across the eight or nine albums that Black has released on his own, or under the Frank Black and the Catholics moniker his albums have lacked consistency throughout them. Teenager of the Year contained ten great songs, but out of twenty two that’s not a great ratio.
So after that build up about Frank Blacks ‘mixed bag’ solo album career so far, it’s time for you to actually consider buying your first Frank black album, if you’ve bought one in the past and been disappointed then it’s time for you to give the guy another chance, because he really has delivered this time.
Honeycomb is consistently brilliant throughout, his voice has never sounded better and yes I’m including his time in the Pixies in that as well! The big thing for me here though is that you get the feeling he believes this is his best record as well. It’s produced by Jon Tiven who worked on his 1994 hit Headache, but more importantly for the type of record this is it’s recorded in Nashville. Not only that it’s produced in Nashville and uses Nashville musicians, people who have been there and done it with the best of them.
The album has a real natural feel to it, it flows beautifully, no doubt helped by the fact that it was recorded in four days, with most of the first takes making it to the final cut. Despite a couple of cover versions on the album (a delightful take on Gram Parsons Dark End of the Street, Song of the Shrimp from an Elvis film and the playfully melodic Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Grove Day which was written by Doug Sahm) this is a deeply personal record for Black.
I Burn Today has a desperate passion about it as he sings “pull my heart strings out and have yourself a strum”, likewise Selkie Bride as he pleas “If you return again, I’ll be the saddest man, my lips will burn your skin, please don’t return again, please don’t repeat again”. It’s this fragile beauty and honesty in the lyrics that sets it apart from other Frank Black records, the stripped down music gives the lyrics the perfect stage from which to entwine the audience in Franks torment.
This really has surprised me this album, I’ve played it more times in the last couple of weeks than I have any of his previous post Pixies output put together. If you can listen to a more vulnerable Frank Black than the choppy, grungy guitars he’s famous for then you’ll find yourself enjoying one of the most beautifully, organic records to come out of America in years. The Pixies may have reformed last year and got the indie kids buzzing again, but I’ll be amazed if they can produce anything on a par with this record now.
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
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Jontiven
= Cult of Ray =
USA
347 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 05:01:00
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Ladies and gentleman,
I believe that the critics are marvelling that HONEYCOMB speaks to a wider audience than previous FB albums. As such, they feel compelled to diminish the worth of the past 12 years, if only to atone for the fact that they did not acknowledge the greatness of previous albums.
As long as they write great things about HONEYCOMB and bring the album to that wider audience, let them have their fun. We all know TOTY is a brill record, likewise many that followed, but this time we are going to have a few more guests at the party.
No complaints here. NME gave us 8 out of 10. There's a PASTE article that's lovely too.
Let's keep it positive! No more complaining in this wondrous time.
bye,
Jon |
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OldManInaCoffeeCan
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1467 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 06:32:05
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quote:
Originally posted by Jontiven
Ladies and gentleman,
I believe that the critics are marvelling that HONEYCOMB speaks to a wider audience than previous FB albums. As such, they feel compelled to diminish the worth of the past 12 years, if only to atone for the fact that they did not acknowledge the greatness of previous albums.
As long as they write great things about HONEYCOMB and bring the album to that wider audience, let them have their fun. We all know TOTY is a brill record, likewise many that followed, but this time we are going to have a few more guests at the party.
...
bye,
Jon
Yep, I agree, a wider audience Honeycomb deserves, and any face-saving or ass-covering by reviewers concerning The Man's previous albums really don't deserve comment. I just roll my eyes and keep reading.
And you're right, all the marvelling and great things being written about Honeycomb is a real joy and cause for celebration!
So, Sir Jon Tiven, what's your hint of the day?
The King's Loyal Subject,
OldManIna"Honeycomb"CoffeeCan
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I joined the noisy cult of six-sixty-six when I somehow agreed to the Registration Policy |
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 06:37:15
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It's not really a complaint Jon, I am delighted with the coverage "Honeycomb" is getting. My comment in relation to SMYT specifically was in reaction to this:
"It’s this fragile beauty and honesty in the lyrics that sets it apart from other Frank Black records, the stripped down music gives the lyrics the perfect stage from which to entwine the audience in Franks torment"
As for your hints, I dream that one day you include a European tour with at least soem of the Honeycomb players.
Best
TP
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
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Ten Percenter
- FB Enquirer -
United Kingdom
1733 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2005 : 07:07:38
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3.5 stars out of 5, a review by Steve LaBate from the aforementioned paste magazine:
http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article?article_id=1957
Frank Black "gets the band back together" for his first album sans Catholics since 1996
A man in a dark suit, hat and even darker sunglasses walks into a soul-food diner. The waitress saunters over as he sits at the counter. “You got any fried chicken?” he asks.
“Best damn chicken in the state.”
“Bring me four fried Chickens and a Coke.”
“You want chicken wings or chicken legs?”
“Four fried chickens and a Coke. And some dry, white toast, please.” She goes back to the kitchen and says to the dishwasher, “We got a honky out there that looks a Hasidic diamond merchant, like he’s from the CIA or something.”
“What’s he want to eat?”
“Four whole fried chickens and a Coke… and some white bread, dry, with nothing on it.”
“Shiyittt, it’s Frank Black!”
OK. So maybe the former Pixies frontman is still a little too bizzaro-macabre to be a Blues Brother, but—just like Belushi and Akroyd—he’s enlisted a legendary crew of Memphis/Muscle Shoals session all-stars to back him up: Spooner Oldham, David Hood and (former Blues Brothers sideman) Steve Cropper, plus Nashville guitarist/songwriter Buddy Miller. And for good measure Honeycomb was produced by Jon Tiven (Wilson Pickett, B.B. King). So what we’ve got here is a real-deal country, soul and rock ’n’ roll album from a pioneer of freaked-out, left-of-the-dial ’80s/’90s alternative.
At first listen, I was skeptical, but man if that Black Francis doesn’t have a velvet-sweet croon. Which, after hearing some of his work with the Catholics, isn’t totally unexpected. But Honeycomb goes a step further with some of Black’s most mature songwriting to date and a chilled-out sound that plays like the cure to a hangover after a night of Pixies-soundtracked debauchery.
"Fried food, cigarettes, no exercise, chest pain..." (Excerpt from the Angina Monologues) |
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Honeycomb Reviews!
