BLUEFINGER - BLACK FRANCIS
Cause for celebration: Erstwhile Pixies frontman/rock ‘n’ roll lifer Charles Thompson is back for another round, this time reclaiming his “old” stage name Black Francis and rocking out harder on record than he has in years. For “Bluefinger,” Francis drew inspiration from iconic Dutch musician/painter Herman Brood, whose mercurial, drug-fueled life and dramatic suicide color most of the album’s lyrics. The Brood cover “You Can’t Break a Heart and Have It” is one of the high points, a furious power-trio jam on the barrelhouse blues number, complete with backing vocals by Francis’ wife, Violet Clarke. “Threshold Apprehension” has angular guitars, lung-busting lead vocals and “oo-wee-oos” by Clarke that should remind listeners of the Pixies’ Kim Deal. But no less enthralling is laid-back fare like “Discotheque 36,” its easy groove informed by Thompson’s recent forays into Americana. Bluefinger
