Comments on: Put Up Your Dukes: Frank Black Vs. The Pixies

By: tyler

tyler — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:42:34 +0000

Dog in the Sand is a masterpiece.

By: Vincent Jones

Vincent Jones — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:52:24 +0000

A lot of interesting comments put out there. Personally, i’m of the opinion that much of his solo catalogue has been underrated. Criticism of ‘Honeycomb’ is un – justified. The album is a ‘grower’ and needs multiple listens to be appreciated. Why shoot the guy for doing something different? Similarily, Fast Man Raider Man has plenty of good tracks on it. Lyrically, he’s better than ever.

I agree that it’s a shame people still shout for ‘Pixies’ songs at his solo gigs. Since then, he has moved in many different directions recording a lot of fantastic music. I also agree that ‘Teenager of The Year’ is a masterpiece. Not a dud on it, and as fresh as it was in 94. It’s as good as anything ‘Pixies’ did. People don’t have the patience for FB without the band, it’s a shame cause they don’t know what their missing.

By: RecaPitulation: Taken By Trees, Black Heart Procession, Suckers « The Bad Penny Blog

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:28:18 +0000

[...] Matthew Fritch and Matt Ryan have a lively debate going over whether Frank Black’s solo oeuvre measures up to his output in the Pixies. Best [...]

By: Jack D

Jack D — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:19:14 +0000

I’m glad to hear some affirmation from other fans re: Frank Black’s career. I’m tired of people who shout, “play Gigantic!” during a Grand Duchy show. Or John Mendelssohn’s lame book “The Pixies and Frank Black.” Why bother to write a book about it, if the last album he enjoyed was Doolittle?!

In ‘94, you could call me behind the times. I didn’t know the Pixies, and heard his solo stuff before I heard their albums. In ‘09 I could say that anyone who’s heard less than fifty of Frank Black’s solo songs are behind the times. Or are not part of this discussion.

By: Seeing Stars « Make A Public Commitment

Seeing Stars « Make A Public Commitment — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:37:08 +0000

[...] Seeing Stars By kip1981 It’s hard to choose. [...]

By: Mickey

Mickey — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:21:52 +0000

I don’t see why people bother having this argument. This is one body of work and people (mostly pro-pixies types, I’ve noticed) act like these songs were written by two different people. The stage names being different doesn’t change the fact that these songs were all written by the same man, and in my opinion it’s pretty easy to notice. If you love the Pixies songs for the actual song writing and not whatever superficial or aesthetic cool factor goes along with them and haven’t really given Frank Black a chance you are really denying yourself something you will love.

By: Curt Rowdy

Curt Rowdy — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:40:48 +0000

I remember reading a comment from Black Francis about the Pixies reunion tour about how nice it was to have somebody else tune his guitar for a change. I’m all about the Pixies reunion if it means they get the accolades (and cash) they deserve for buttering the bread for so many bands long after their dissolution (i.e. Weezer). They kept most ticket prices under $50 and played a great set. It was definitely aged, but mostly for the better with a much higher quality reunion show than say, Stone Temple Pilots (blech!). More power to the Pixies if they want to make some house payments. I’m a satisfied customer (2x). The “Modern-Day Gob” comment is just too funny (but sadly true). On a side note, Teenager of the Year is absolutely the best album ever, seriously.

By: JoeMachine

JoeMachine — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:08:38 +0000

Fritch for the win.

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:30:42 +0000

I find myself revisiting Dog in the Sand and Show Me Your Tears more than any of the Pixies efforts. In general, I’d say the post-Pixies stuff has been more favorable to me – probably because there’s just more of it. The Pixies are just one part of a great music career.

Speaking of the Pixies, I’d definitely say Surfer Rosa was their worst record; not to say it’s a bad record. Most of the songs are great, but the hit:miss ratio is higher than any of their other stuff. Something Against You? Yuck. Bossanova is fantastic and doesn’t have a stinker on it.

Frank Black Francis does have a great scream, and I’m glad to say he still uses it. But if he only stuck to that, it would get old fast. His voice is still fairly unique and makes almost all of his catalog a joy to listen to.

By: Russ

Russ — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:11:32 +0000

If Matt Ryan’s best argument is that The Pixies aren’t quite as big a money grubbing band as The Eagles, he should have stopped typing immediately. I was/is a major Pixies fan, but Frank’s solo/post-Pixie bands are great, both in song quality and recording technique. He reminds me a bit of J Mascis; not the sweetest guy at the dinner table, but a journeyman that isn’t sitting on his hands trying to figure out how to rewrite Pixies hits for a few shillings. If he ever pulls Ryan Adams ‘fart on vinyl and release it approach’, I’ll modify my comments as needed.