Frank Black
(A.V. Club, Madison print edition, Nov. 2, 2006 Longer online version here.)
If Frank Black’s solo work isn’t as beloved as that of his former band, the Pixies, it might just be because there’s so much of it. Pixies’ output is easy to think of in terms of five convenient studio packages, but since the band’s 1993 breakup, Black has released an unwieldy sprawl of 11 solo albums. He’s currently touring behind 2006’s 27-song double album Fast Man Raider Man, much of which he recorded on a day off during one of Pixies’ recent reunion tours. For that album and 2005’s Honeycomb, Black traveled to Nashville to record with a cast of veteran session players that included Steve Cropper, Spooner Oldham, and Al Kooper--which sounds like a recipe for an all-star genre exercise, but actually yielded some of Black’s most distinctive songs. Black recently spoke with The A.V. Club about rock nostalgia, some recent recording, and why he hates Cracker Barrel.
The A.V. Club: You’re touring with a four-piece rock band right now--without any of the horns or slide guitar of your last two albums. Are you trying to replicate those albums’ sounds in concert at all?
Frank Black: No, we’re just trying to find our own sound, whatever this band is. I think we’re starting to do that. [It’s] Kind of loud. Songs that are slow, we play them even slower. It’s loud and muscular. We’re not going to try and sound like a Nashville record that had 10 guys playing on it, including pedal steel and Hammond organ and everything else. So it didn’t seem worth it to go there. I don’t think the audiences that I’m playing to right now are expecting that. I’m still playing the same nightclubs to the same crowd. It’s not like I have the alt-country crowd coming out to see us now.
AVC: There are a few interesting cover songs on these albums, especially “Dark End Of The Street” and “Dirty Old Town.” What are your favorite versions of those songs?
FB: People associate it with a couple of different R&B versions [of “Dark End Of The Street”]. And here I am, mister white college-dropout dude from Massachusetts. Who the hell do I think I am? [Laughs.] How dare I touch that? To be fair, my reference point is another white guy with probably more country-rock credibility than I have: Gram Parsons. That’s the one I know. When I heard the song, it really moved me. I didn’t know who wrote it, I didn’t know the history of the song or anything, but I remember being obsessed with it. “Dirty Old Town,” I just needed a song to do, ’cause it was the last day of the session and I didn’t have any more songs, and I happened to know that song. For me, the definitive version is the Pogues’. People are always saying, “No, no, you can’t do that. You’re gonna be like this. You were in Pixies. You’re alternative-rock music. Don’t do anything else.” And I don’t believe that. I realize that if you’re not a reggae dude, you might make some shitty reggae if you try to do it. But you know what? Go for it. Who cares?
AVC: What do you think of covers of your songs, like David Bowie’s version of “Cactus,” or TV On The Radio’s version of “Mr. Grieves”?
FB: I’m pleased when people cover my music, obviously. It’s a thrill. I don’t know that I can quite get as thrilled as someone might want me to be…. [People say,] “Frank, Kurt Cobain said that ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was a rip-off of a Pixies song. How does that make you feel?” I’ve been asked that question so many friggin’ times that I don’t even know what to say anymore. “So, Kurt Cobain said he liked you! Woo-hoo! Come on, Frank, did you get an erection?” I’m just so sick of all that. The whole culture is like that. The whole sense of nostalgia is crazy. I had breakfast the other morning at Cracker Barrel. Ugh! “Country, just like momma used to make.” Number one, it ain’t like my mom used to make. Yours sucks. Yours tastes like it was boiled in a fuckin’ plastic bag. [Laughs.]
AVC: You mentioned you’ve recorded a couple of new songs. What are they like?
FB: I like to think they sound… kind of Clash, kind of Rolling Stones, kind of old Rod Stewart--they’re not aggressive, but they’re loud. Kind of a laid-back loudness.
(A.V. Club, Madison print edition, Nov. 2, 2006 Longer online version here.)
If Frank Black’s solo work isn’t as beloved as that of his former band, the Pixies, it might just be because there’s so much of it. Pixies’ output is easy to think of in terms of five convenient studio packages, but since the band’s 1993 breakup, Black has released an unwieldy sprawl of 11 solo albums. He’s currently touring behind 2006’s 27-song double album Fast Man Raider Man, much of which he recorded on a day off during one of Pixies’ recent reunion tours. For that album and 2005’s Honeycomb, Black traveled to Nashville to record with a cast of veteran session players that included Steve Cropper, Spooner Oldham, and Al Kooper--which sounds like a recipe for an all-star genre exercise, but actually yielded some of Black’s most distinctive songs. Black recently spoke with The A.V. Club about rock nostalgia, some recent recording, and why he hates Cracker Barrel.
The A.V. Club: You’re touring with a four-piece rock band right now--without any of the horns or slide guitar of your last two albums. Are you trying to replicate those albums’ sounds in concert at all?
Frank Black: No, we’re just trying to find our own sound, whatever this band is. I think we’re starting to do that. [It’s] Kind of loud. Songs that are slow, we play them even slower. It’s loud and muscular. We’re not going to try and sound like a Nashville record that had 10 guys playing on it, including pedal steel and Hammond organ and everything else. So it didn’t seem worth it to go there. I don’t think the audiences that I’m playing to right now are expecting that. I’m still playing the same nightclubs to the same crowd. It’s not like I have the alt-country crowd coming out to see us now.
AVC: There are a few interesting cover songs on these albums, especially “Dark End Of The Street” and “Dirty Old Town.” What are your favorite versions of those songs?
FB: People associate it with a couple of different R&B versions [of “Dark End Of The Street”]. And here I am, mister white college-dropout dude from Massachusetts. Who the hell do I think I am? [Laughs.] How dare I touch that? To be fair, my reference point is another white guy with probably more country-rock credibility than I have: Gram Parsons. That’s the one I know. When I heard the song, it really moved me. I didn’t know who wrote it, I didn’t know the history of the song or anything, but I remember being obsessed with it. “Dirty Old Town,” I just needed a song to do, ’cause it was the last day of the session and I didn’t have any more songs, and I happened to know that song. For me, the definitive version is the Pogues’. People are always saying, “No, no, you can’t do that. You’re gonna be like this. You were in Pixies. You’re alternative-rock music. Don’t do anything else.” And I don’t believe that. I realize that if you’re not a reggae dude, you might make some shitty reggae if you try to do it. But you know what? Go for it. Who cares?
AVC: What do you think of covers of your songs, like David Bowie’s version of “Cactus,” or TV On The Radio’s version of “Mr. Grieves”?
FB: I’m pleased when people cover my music, obviously. It’s a thrill. I don’t know that I can quite get as thrilled as someone might want me to be…. [People say,] “Frank, Kurt Cobain said that ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was a rip-off of a Pixies song. How does that make you feel?” I’ve been asked that question so many friggin’ times that I don’t even know what to say anymore. “So, Kurt Cobain said he liked you! Woo-hoo! Come on, Frank, did you get an erection?” I’m just so sick of all that. The whole culture is like that. The whole sense of nostalgia is crazy. I had breakfast the other morning at Cracker Barrel. Ugh! “Country, just like momma used to make.” Number one, it ain’t like my mom used to make. Yours sucks. Yours tastes like it was boiled in a fuckin’ plastic bag. [Laughs.]
AVC: You mentioned you’ve recorded a couple of new songs. What are they like?
FB: I like to think they sound… kind of Clash, kind of Rolling Stones, kind of old Rod Stewart--they’re not aggressive, but they’re loud. Kind of a laid-back loudness.
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