Artist bio

See also: Pixies

Frank Black, nee Charles Thompson, is one of the most accomplished rock songwriters of his era, basically the 20th century's final 15 years and beyond. He earned his stripes with five albums in six years as the frontman for underground icons the Pixies, but after disbanding the group via press release in 1993, he embarked on an even bolder mission: to outlive the legacy he created.

1993's Frank Black and 1994's Teenager Of The Year proved Black's creativity to have even more range than he displayed with his critically acclaimed former band. Both find him reaching past his well-known surf-punk motifs to create pop-rock vistas that distilled dozens of influences into tunes about UFOs, architects, obscure towns, facial hair, and the Three Stooges.

But lo, Black was not completely happy on his own. He missed having a trusty band behind him that he could tour long and hard with and not worry about collaborating with dozens of people on each album. Enter the Catholics, basically the former Miracle Legion rhythm section of Scott Boutier and David McCaffrey. With a string of guitarists including Lyle Workman, Rich Gilbert, and Dave Philips, Frank and the Catholics turned into an old-school band of rock troubadors, punching out albums like Frank Black And The Catholics, Pistolero, Dog In The Sand, and Devil's Workshop with impressive regularity.

Black adopted the new m.o. of recording live to two-track, which gave his albums an immediate feel and gave his band a reason to really learn their shit and get air-tight in time for the performances. The former indie icon is currently living out his dream as a rock and roller with a band in a van, criss-crossing the country to play ear-crushing shows at a smoky club near you.

Albums by this artist

Bluefinger (2007)

Fastman Raiderman (2006)

Honeycomb (2005)

Show Me Your Tears (2003)

Black Letter Days (2002)

Devil's Workshop (2002)

Oddballs (2001)

Dog In The Sand (Recommended) (2001)

Pistolero (1999)

Frank Black And The Catholics (1998)

The Cult Of Ray (1996)

Teenager Of The Year (Recommended) (1994)

Frank Black (1993)

Concerts

February 5, 2001
Mercury Lounge, New York

July 6, 1999
The Metro, Chicago

Interviews

The Devil's Workshops
July 15, 2002

Frank Black and the Catholics

Devil's Workshop

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» TROY CARPENTER | CO-DIRECTOR

Frank Black Devil's Workshop spinART, 2002 RiYL: Rolling Stones, Mike Watt, Black Crowes

Devil's Workshop is the Lucky Town to Black Letter Days' Human Touch: the fast-growth companion album that actually outshines its more expansive "older brother" with a focused, powerful batch of songs. With BLD in the can, Frank and the Catholics returned to the studio in March 2002 to bang out this 11-track disc, and fine-tuned a combination of older nuggets and songs written on the spot.

It opens with one of the first songs Frank Black ever wrote, in 1980 as the 15-year-old Charles Thompson. "Velvety" had previously surfaced without lyrics as the Pixies B-side "Velvety Instrumental Version," but here it gets blessed with some classic cryptic Black lines: "She's a cat of a creature, don't care, she's Velvety!"

The smooth, meandering "Out Of State" leads nicely into "His Kingly Cave," an ominous tale of a couple eating psychedelic mushrooms during a storm that ranks among Black's best tunes with the Catholics. His measured voice spins the story over a perfectly turned minor-key progression, and the light harmony vocals in the chorus juxtapose beautifully with Dave Philips' vibrato lead guitar.

The angular, bouncy "San Antonio, TX," one of the album's highlights, was reportedly written and recorded in the course of a day, as was "Bartholomew." Given that the band still records its albums live to two-track, the finished versions of these songs, cut so soon after their original conception, are astounding in their completeness. The sound is pristine, and the group is unbelievably tight, for producing this material on the fly.

The whole album rushes by in only 35 minutes (compared to 60+ for BLD), and closer "Fields Of Marigold" ties things up in royal shape. The tune, Black admits, had been kicking around in his noggin since the Teenager Of The Year era, and he clearly finally figured it out. After a cursory opening verse, he kicks in the chorus in self-referential fashion ("Hey, how 'bout a drum roll (he gets it) / for the Fields of Marigooooold!") and proceeds to bang out an anthem that's sure to fit right in as a set-closer for the Catholics' ever-evolving live show.

Frank now has five albums with the Catholics, and they're all winners. Devil's Workshop is the most compact realization of the group's aesthetic, and it contributes 11 solid songs to Frank's ever-expanding canon. Sing on, singers. Play on, drummers.

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.