Frank Black and the Catholics
Dog In The Sand
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NATN Recommended
Frank Black
Dog In The Sand
What Are Records, 2001
RiYL: Mike Watt, Rolling Stones, Roxy Music |
Sure, he's endured a bit of Zeus' punishment, in a sense: his album sales decline slightly with every release and he doesn't seem to be able to keep a record deal. But the man's certainly earned our mortal respect at this point. His solo career is seven albums strong (if you include last year's b-side compilation Oddballs), and he is moving toward that territory inhabited by other rockers-for-life like Mike Watt or Lou Reed. Frank's gonna keep making music, whether you like it or not.
As for his latest, Dog In The Sand, I like it. Frank and his trusty band The Catholics recorded the darn thing live, and didn't edit a single note. That may not seem all that impressive, at least until you hear the record. But it sure sounds good.
From the driving, seven-minute opener "Blast Off" to the tinkly bar ballad "Stupid Me" and the Sticky Fingers-ish sting of "Hermaphroditos," Dog has a strong, old-school rock and roll feel to it. Even more so than the 1999's Western-tinged Pistolero, Dog brings to mind the purity of American music as it's experienced driving a car through the vast expanses of the Southwest plains.
The Catholics took a few more chances in the studio this time, inviting Black's old pal Eric Drew Feldman -- late of Captain Beefheart's magic band -- to play his electric piano and bringing in no less than three additional guitarists to fill out the sound (including old Pixies chum Joey Santiago).
Acoustic and pedal steel guitars, banjos and bihuelas all serve to open up the songs and give them more personality. And Feldman adds the darker dimension Black's music had been thirsting for its last two times out. His husky Wurlitzer tones on tracks like "I've Seen Your Picture" and "The Swimmer" draw just the right swagger out of Black's thick voice.
Black's canny lyrical inspirations on Dog include "The St. Francis Dam Disaster," a retelling of the tragic 1928 bursting of said dam, whose wall of water rushed through the Santa Clara Valley to the ocean in the dead of night, destroying everything in its path (including over 500 people). Ever the lyrical experimentalist, Black tells the story from the water's point of view, counting down the miles to the ocean with every verse: "She was feeling choked / she pushed the wall til it broke...five and one half hours she would flow / she had fifty-three miles to go"
Dog In The Sand isn't going to launch any revolutions or kick-start any more young Cobains, but it's nevertheless a lovely slice of music, with strength in its implication: Frank Black is a survivor, and his existence makes today's music scene just a little bit tougher.
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.