Frank Black and the Catholics

Dog In the Sand

What Are Records?

Frank Black is the man - there’s no doubt about that.

And on his latest album with the Catholics, he once again proves he’s a living legend of the craft.

From his glamorous days with The Pixies, his music hints at his past, with strangely-placed guitar noise and his signature wailing voice.

The album has a bit of a western-country-ish feel to it as a slide guitar and honky-tonk piano run alongside the slippery album, which is somewhat hard to recognize.

Black’s voice and bass performance style is easily recognizable, but the album seems too simple for him.

The rhythm section doesn’t do much throughout the album, steadily keeping the beat going with a simple 1-2-1-2 kick most of the time.

“Robert Onion” is similar to old Pixies material, while “Stupid Me” is a smoky blues bar ballad with Black’s vocal range being toyed with.

“Bullet” could be the background music to a great train robbery or a shoot-out in the center of town square - you can almost see the tumbleweeds fluttering across the dirt road if you close your eyes.

“Hermaphroditos” has a powerful rockin’ country feel to it and “I’ll Be Blue” is a beautiful slow-roller with emotional ivory tinges and well-placed strums - that, mixed with Blacks shy and intelligent lyrical presence, makes the song an instant classic.

“If It Takes All Night” begins with a miniature high E-string sliding from fret to fret and then rocks out with a hyper piano pounding efficiently, while the drummer adds some speedy fills.

The title track leaves the listener with a somber and free-flowing feel, mixing an acoustic motif with some reverb one-liners and a conclusion that leaves a sweet tint of goodness inside.

Despite the different theme - compared to his other efforts, both solo and with the Catholics - this record fits right in with Black’s extensive repertoire by showing another side of the acclaimed artist.