Frank Black & The Catholics
Snake Oil
★★★★
DEMON. DL/LP
Raucous 1998-2003 covers set goes vinyl.
After Pixies’ acrimonious dissolution in 1993, volatile mouthpiece Frank Black was all about renewed productivity. After three substantial solo records, 1998 saw the inauguration of hot combo The Catholics, where the musical goalposts were explicitly moved to facilitate investigation of pre-punk traditions. At that point, people just said he’d gone pub rock, but this career phase has rightly come to be appreciated for its raw, garage-y energy, and adherence to top-quality, within-genre songcraft. It’s nowhere better typified than on this covers collection, where gruff-throated Black thrillingly tackles Springsteen, Dylan (twice, including pointed 1978 anthem of self-transformation, Changing Of The Guards) and the Stones (Down In The Hole recast as rattling Chicano-rock à la Mr Grieves), as well as splashes of country and Reigning Sound-raw rock’n’soul. Also out this month, a scorching 38-song live triple-LP (with eight Pixies tunes) further begs The Catholics’ induction into the greater pantheon.