For any Pixies fans out there that may not be too clued in on what the lead singer did after the band first called it a day, Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV aka Black Francis went out on his own under the moniker Frank Black and after releasing a couple of solo records renamed his backing band the Catholics and added them to his name on subsequent releases.
This eponymous 1998 album was the first under this new band name but is still mostly seen as a continuation of Frank's solo career. If you liked the Pixies there's a good chance you'll dig this too, but don't expect the same level of raucousness. Maybe some decent 'rockusness' though (sorry) as these are more straight ahead rock songs. Simpler in a way than some of the earlier Frank Black (and unnamed Catholics) stuff I'd say, or at least more conventional maybe.
The idea here was that all songs were recorded live to two track tape allowing no overdubs. Raw simplicity was the aim and it panned out pretty well. The guitar sound from track to track doesn't change too much and the feeling I sometimes get from listening is that it sounds like the band set up and then just ploughed through the recording in one go without adjusting much in the way of instrumentation or settings. But still he's got some super hooky riffs and melodies in there. Gotta love it.
The first track 'All My Ghosts' is a stand out for me so I include it here. Plus, I saw them live in the early 2000s and they put on a great show. They really impressed the audience that night and got a great response but when they broke into the Pixies' 'Where Is My Mind' during the encore the crowd just lost their shit. It didn't take a genius to realise that Pixies fans made up the majority of their audience or that a reunion a few years later would be such a popular and lucrative move. It's hard for a follow up band to live up to something as Pixieish as the Pixies so really that's the only reason it loses a star.
3 very shiny stars ***
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