Frank Black: Pistolero : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Less than a year after surprising everyone with Frank Black and the Catholics, an album that recaptured the crazy beauty of his Pixies days, Frank Black is back with another CD spotlighting his latest band. Like the first Catholics album, Pistolero is a DIY affair captured live on a two-track recorder, featuring bass, drums, distorted guitar and Black's template wit as its axis. From the classic licks and good-lovin' vocals of "You're Such a Wire" to the mythic, stadium-ready R&B of "Western Star," the album is a homage to the kind of garage-rock blues that made Eric Burdon rumble back when Francis still wore diapers. Black's blues still resonate with avant-oddness -- lines like "I wanna sleep with your brain" ("I Love Your Brain") and "Chaos is just a quirk" ("I Think I'm Starting to Lose It") would have sent the Animals into a tailspin -- but here it just adds to the simmer of postmodern, post-Pixies rock & roll. (RS 810)

NEVA CHONIN