Album Review

Black Francis – The Seus

• 17th Apr 2008

Pixies man Black Francis/Frank Black (Black Francis on this occasion) returns with this new single, that marks a distinctive and surprising new sound. As soon as the song breaks in, one could easily be mistaken for thinking they were listening to Beck in his prime, Black switches between shouts and raps, as the music oozes the cranky, ramshackle of the deep south not dissimilar to Alabama 3. The song itself almost a formation of the two bands.

Taken from the mini album ‘Svn Fngrs’, the song is far away from the sound of the Pixies, as though Black is trying to distance himself from his heyday, which is not unusual in his solo career, as he has flirted with many genres, but still never managed to recreate the success or impact of the Pixies. The song works though, and is quite refreshing, which is bizarre as it has the feeling and tone of a record made ten years ago.

It’s downfall however are the breakdowns when Black sings rather than shouts, merely because it’s all too easy to think of Anthony Kiedis, and that lazy sound of almost all later Chilli Pepper songs plus it simply swims against the flow of the rest of the song. However one must appreciate the attempt and almost success of the change in sound, but the similarities to Beck are so inescapable you can’t help thinking you’ve been there before, a long time ago.

The single contains remixes from Infadels and Bloc Party, which in comparison to the song seem quite a peculiar choice. Neither really work, they offer no further insight or different approach to the song. Infadels exploit the song, in order to create a dance floor friendly song, not dissimilar to their own sound, the whole thing feels incredibly unnecessary and distasteful. Bloc Party don’t do much better, again not doing any real justice or purpose to the song. Consequently ending up sounded like some warped Euro pop song. Perhaps these remixes were added to make us appreciate the original greater, as after the listening to them, the Black Francis version feels like an incredible inhalation of fresh air, whilst the remixes do nothing but make me reach for both the aspirin and the stop button.