Black Francis

Svn Fngrs

(Cooking Vinyl)

Record Review by Adam McKibbin

“I am the great…Seus!” Black Francis announces repeatedly on the opening track of Svn Fngrs. And, as usual, a translation or explanation is nowhere on the horizon. “I won’t bother you here with what the damn concept is,” he writes in his press one-sheet, “but let’s just say the theme revolves around a lot of NASTY sex, NASTIER death, and beautifully strange birth.” So there you have it.

At one point, it seemed that the great Pixies frontman was hanging up the “Black Francis” moniker and going to play out his career as Frank Black. In recent years, even the identity of “Frank Black” had shifted, as he’d stepped away from the eclectic indie-rock of Teenager of the Year and spent time - maybe too much time - in Nashville and was making country-and-western-infused albums.

The Pixies reunion seemed to shake the cobwebs off the ol’ Black Francis persona. And while bandmate and occasional nemesis Kim Deal has attracted a fair bit of buzz for her reemergence with The Breeders this year, the seven-song Svn Fngrs is more worthy of celebration. Recorded and mixed in six days, the EP is very cohesive, with only one song (“The Tale of Lonesome Fetter”) feeling more like a B-side.

There are three big draws here. The first is the aforementioned opener, “The Seus,” with its wobbly guitar line and hip-hoppish vocal rhythms. The closer is even better, with the straight-ahead rocker “When They Come to Murder Me” catching Black Francis in top form. He doesn’t quite have the same howl as he once did, but he still sounds uniquely unhinged and utterly compelling.

What really seals the deal is “Garbage Heap,” perhaps the most Pixieish song he’s done as a solo artist since… well, since ever, maybe. And yet it’s far from a rehash of anything already in the catalog. Producer Jason Carter strikes exactly the right notes and helps make the song feel like an instant classic. “I’ll stay here with you / I’ll lay here with you,” Black Francis promises solemnly. He can lay his head wherever he wishes, but we’re going to have to hold him to the first part.