Frank Black and the Catholics
Black Letter Days
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Frank Black
Black Letter Days
spinART, 2002
RiYL: Rolling Stones, R.E.M., Guided By Voices |
Though its contents are varied in style, BLD is arguably Black's most straightforward rock album; his sound is becoming more and more "classic rock" with each passing record. But naturally, what we have here is Frank and the Catholics' take on classicism, which spans the spectrum from high lonesome plains balladry ("Whispering Weeds," "True Blue") to balls-out rock ("1826," "Black Letter Day") to tight, dynamic pop ("California Bound," "How You Went So Far") to convoluted love songs ("I WIll Run After You," "Jane The Queen Of Love").
The album is bookended by different versions of Tom Waits' "The Black Rider," the first welcoming listeners like a demonic face perched above the fun-house entryway, and the closer serving as a more relaxed, thanks-for-coming farewell.
Rich Gilbert's got a pedal steel gee-tar, and it sounds real purty in decorating tracks like the mid-tempo "Chip Away Boy" and the melancholy "Cold Heart Of Stone," on which Black mourns "Winter blows through my coat, it's chilling my bones / but it does not compare to your cold heart of stone" and later delivers the kiss-off: "if ever you need, don't call."
"End Of Miles" might be the best example of how much Frank's worked his troubador lifestyle into his songwriting. The tune describes driving west until the roads run into ocean: "For some, the end of miles is Denver, Colorado / but something always kept me moving West." The narrator ends up "leathery and bleached," wandering the coast of California, but enjoys his fate nonetheless: "I've got nowhere left to go / but I'm satisfied to know / there'll be miles nevermore," he concludes, before the group launches into a fiery lead guitar break.
Black Letter Days probably won't go down as Frank Black's most masterful work. It's even bettered by its little brother, Devil's Workshop. But it remains a cool, confident work by a well-practiced rocksmith and his formidable band of musicians. A true rock fan should not be without some Frank Black, and a true Frank Black fan should not be without some Black Letter Days.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.