It's scandalous, not to say unjust, that Frank Black's former cohorts, The Pixies, failed to achieve the commercial impact their unique and highly influential brand of alt rock deserved.
Throughout the 80's, this Boston quartet were the underground scene's pivotal combo. Combining stop-start dynamics, twanging Tex-Mex surf guitar, cryptic lyrics, pop hooks, ferocious full-frontal guitar, and the zombie-raising howl of Black Francis (his stage name back then), The Pixies inspired a new generation of musicians, including a young Kurt Cobain. Indeed, the Pixies-patented stop-start formula and guitar barrage became integral components of the globe-trouncing Nirvana sound. Ironically, having laid the groundwork for the early-90's grunge explosion, The Pixies broke up just as Kurt and Co blew the bloody doors off.
Whilst Black's post-Pixies output has failed to match the savage fury of his previous band - even his trademark larynx-lacerating scream has been ditched - he remains predictably unpredictable. As well as collaborating with Moris Tepper, a longtime member of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, 'Dog In The Sand' sees Frank teaming up with erstwhile Pixie fret mangler Joey Santiago for the first time in nine years.
Despite Santiago's injection of discordant riffage the emphasis is on mellow tunefulness as evinced by the wistfully rippling title track. Trilled in a fragile Neil Young-like warble, the piano-piloted, steel-guitar dappled, 'I'll Be Blue' evokes the same ancient, frontier spirit as Young, The Band and Mercury Rev. Black's lyrics, however, are characteristically oblique: "I wouldn't laugh and you looked so stunned, I think you had no clue, I will be blue, Like Jesus on the hill".
Although nothing quite reaches the pathological intensity of The Pixies, it's not all laid-back languor. Frank ups the tempo with the sleazy Stones strut of 'Hermaphroditos Is My Name' and 'Bullet', an unhinged, Mexicana rockabilly shuffle that finds the big man narrating the tale of a gun-running bandito from beyond the grave.
'Dog In The Sand' is unquestionably Frank Black's finest solo album and with The Pixies currently de rigeur, soundtracking the climax to Fight Club and accompanying vodka ads, it's high time he received the recognition that a bona fide legend deserves. All hail the King!
