Following a two-year layoff (cuzza this court case against Unicorn Records, who refused to release Damaged, but didn't want Greg to release it either, the bastards), Black Flag returned, having lost both hardcore god drummer Robo (to The Misfits) and legendary punk bassist/songwriter Chuck Dukowski to...hmm? Some other SST band. I can't remember which one. SWA, maybe? So Greg and Henry replaced them with Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson and...Greg Ginn on bass. Yeth, it reads "Dale ... read more

Rollins makes his full-length debut with a yelp and a scream. A 45-minute scream. It's difficult to believe he wasn't born with this thundering speed noise behind him, he sounds so darn at home retching out lines like "I don't wanna live! I wish I was dead!" and "Depression! It's gonna kill me!" Harnessing a brand new colorless and hoarse-beyond-belief yell attack, Henry "Rollie" Rollins "Fingers" absorbs himself completely into Greg Ginn's ... read more

Okay, they still haven't returned to the straight-up rock and roll of yesteryear (and probably never will), but at least they're writing some actual hooks again! New Orleans jazz-blueser "Good Morning Captain" and CCR-esque swamp rocker "Been A Long Time" kick off the jubilee with a pair of melodies stronger than anything on the previous record and, though this level of catchiness certainly doesn't hold up for the entire double-disc, the fact that the album has any ... read more

This is of course the album that Maxim magazine infamously panned after hearing only one song.

Oh, to write for Maxim magazine.

But no, I did the honest thing and listened to the entire CD - MULTIPLE TIMES - just to confirm what Maxim correctly guessed: it stinks ass.

The band itself sounds fantastic. They have a new lead guitarist and keyboardist, and every track is a naturalistic, warm, earthy jam of gritty distorted rhythm guitar, expert lead slide guitar, soulful piano/organ and adequate ... read more

The funky slightly southernish classic rock band is back with another album that sounds just like The Black Crowes! Only difference here is that there are a couple of really awful tunes in which they go beyond "funky butt rock" to attempt actual "FUNK" (complete with stupid STUPID vocals) and end up sounding like an Infectious Grooves tribute band (i.e. bad). Also, the dude's voice is way too loud in the mix. Has it always been this loud? He has a cool early '70s voice, but ... read more

I feel so impotent when I can't think of the right words to describe the sound of an individual band or maintain an erection. I'm tired of saying "raw, bluesy, Stonesy, melodic," but gosh ding dong, that really is what they SOUND like! On this one, it seems like they're making a conscious effort to pick up the pace and create some Money Maker-esque chuggers that the kids might dig. The songs are good, but I'm sure they probably got little or no airplay. Ah well. Plus, it seems like ... read more

Similar to the last one (slapdash grungey drunken Stones r'n'r with almost British Invasion-catchy pop melodies buried beneath the trashy presentation), but tarnished irreparably by a couple of lame novelty songs ("Halfway To Everywhere" and "Let Me Share The Ride" are just dumb - there's no reason for such a talented bunch of songwriters to waste space on spew like that) and two lackluster ballads ("Girl From A Pawnshop" and "Better When You're Not ... read more

They mostly dumped the backup vocals, pianos and overall Southern comfort feel of the last record, leaving this one mostly a double-guitar sloshy American rock extravaganza. Great loose playing, but within the structure of actual SONGS with really awesome hooks. No go-nowhere jams or generic Chuck Berryisms here. The Crowes by this point had refined their sound to the point that they could combine their early '70s sound with just great solid pop songwriting. Also seems a little faster paced ... read more

Gospel-style female backup vocals, pianos and slower, more soulful songs = fewer hits! Wonderful guitarin' though. They play with "feeling" - bending notes, playing blues scales and jagged, scraggly slide guitar. They sound like they know what they're doing - and there's two of them! I like playing the guitar, but I can't play like this. I come from the punk rock school of "no feeling," so even though I'm pretty good at it now, I still have no clue how people can wring such ... read more

Sure, they picked a style that had already proven to be successful way back in the early '70s, but how many other billions of interchangeable bar bands had done the same thing throughout the previous two decades? What separated the Black Crowes from that pack was, quite frankly, riffs so unceasingly pleasing in their simple catchiness that they beat the shit out of most of the stuff, or rather, the stuff out of most of the shit, that the Stones themselves had been churning out since 1980! Sure, ... read more

I think it's safe to say that nobody who has seen a recent photo of Charles "Black Francis" Thompson has come away from the experience thinking anything other than "I must make love to that man." He oozes sex from every pore of a physique that almost literally screams, "I look like a big floppy boob." But the time is now and your sensual prayers have been answered because Nonstoperotik is an entire album devoted to the act of special places!

You might consider ... read more

But I certainly did curse out that old man the other day, didn't I? Yes, in the past I've been a timid street argument-getter-into, only spouting my angry venom at women and AIDS people, but check out the GUTS I'm growing now! I cussed out a hunched-over 95-year-old man!

It was his fault though. Henry The Dog politely urinated on an empty newspaper box, and the old man doddered on over to me, interrupted a conversation I was having with a fellow dog owner, and said, "You really should ... read more

Yeah, more like FAT Man REFRIGERATOR Man, if you ask me!!!!!

Leading news sources reported in early July that "Pixies frontman Frank Black had tried to write new tracks for the band since they reformed for live appearances two years ago, but he was forced to ditch his efforts when he and bassist Kim Deal quickly realised the songs were a pale imitation of their 1980s cult classics."

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Fast Man Raider Man.

Frank Black can no longer write Pixies songs ... read more

UPDATE: The following review has the unpleasant distinction of being the most controversial critique on my entire site. I have received more angry emails about my (admittedly opinionated) review of Frank Black's Christmass than about any other review on my site. And I think this says something interesting -- not only about how different people have varying emotional reactions to the same musical content, but also about how vehemently certain fans (short for 'fanatics,' remember) react to a ... read more

As this will probably soon be posted on a Frank Black messageboard that will then malign me and harm my feelings, let me preface this by saying "EAT SHTI, FRANK BLACK MESSAGEBOARD."

Okay, now that you've eaten yourself in Persian present continuous tense, let's talk about this crappy boring new shit Frank ass Black lousy boring album. If not even Steve Cropper can save your album, it's time to write a new album. But at least it's different for Mr. Black. Oh yes, different. Usually ... read more

Fank Francis, the former lead singer of the Pixies, has finally proudly embraced his past and the Pixies are touring again. Everybody's really excited about it. It's a good thing my ceilings are 35 feet big because I can't stop jumping up and down, punching my fist and going, "Yeah." Also, I can't walk anymore; I can only skip about like a female child because I'm so happy about it, and excited. One time I thought I wasn't all that excited about it, but then I realized my hand was in ... read more

A long time ago in Boston Town, a portly gentleman named Charles Thompson started calling himself Black Francis and leading a really neat little band called the Pixies. These magical Pixies created something unique and spectacular - a finely-tuned mix of glossy clean guitar sparkle, speedy punk energy, charming and unpredictable vocal humor, brilliant melodic know-how and some crazy whim that a verse should always have 5 or 6 lines rather than the traditional 4 or 8. When Charles "Black ... read more

I've been following Frank Black since he replaced Ed Smalle as pianist/arranger of the Revelers in 1926, and through all the years, all the Palmolive Hour and House of Wrigley episodes, the ill-fated "Sieberling Singers" era on into his days with Kim Deal in The Pixies when he was in his '90s, he has never EVER recorded an album that sounds as much like everybody else as this one does. It's almost as if he's turning to his fans and saying, "I'm tired of being an original ... read more

When Frank Black, Tom Waits and Paul Westerberg all announced that they were releasing TWO studio cds at the same time, I was so angry at these three men, I nearly forgot my manners. But if the other five are as good as THIS one, then sign my name to the AARP "Everybody has to put out two CDs at the same time to combat file-sharing" petition!

On this release, former Pixie Blank Frack continues his ongoing powerpoint presentation to those feeble-minded rock "fans" who insist ... read more

There are lots of good things about creative, catchy song melodies, and one of those things is Frank Black. His experiences of life and music are collected together on a CD entitled Cog In The Machinery which can be purchased at your local CDNow chain of buying stores. Mr. Black presents here another excellent "guitar rock" album which will alienate nobody young or old. He doesn't scream or play weird stuff like he did in the Pixies sometimes. All of these songs are melodic and filled ... read more