Black shows another side on country-tinged `Honeycomb'.

Byline: CD REVIEW By Carolyn Lamberson The Register-Guard

Just because Frank Black went to Nashville to record his latest solo album, `Honeycomb,' don't expect him to sound like Garth Brooks.

There's nary a twang nor a pedal steel guitar in sight. Instead, the album evokes a slightly countrified '70s folk record. Black, the once and future frontman of the indie rock icons the Pixies, had Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde" record in mind when he jetted off to Music City to record with some talented session players from Stax Records, Muscle Shoals and American studios.

The result is a rock record that is flavored with a bit of folk, a bit of country soul, a bit of Americana. A mellow outing with some upbeat moments, "Honeycomb" dives into Black's personal life unlike anything he ever wrote with the Pixies or his subsequent band, the Catholics, or on previous solo works.

We journey through a broken marriage in "Strange Goodbye," which features a duet with Black's ex-wife, Jean Black. We thrill at new-found love in "Violet," a song written for his current girlfriend, the mother of his first child. We even eavesdrop on a devil-may-care shrimp who jumps at the chance to be the dinner of some "big Creole gal" in the rather giddy cover tune "Song of the Shrimp," one of the very few good things to come out of the Elvis Presley movie "Girls, Girls, Girls."

"I Burn Today" is the album's best song. Black shows that he has not forgotten how to write a catchy pop hook. The long narrative of the tune, held together with the brief chorus, "Yes, today I will burn / for the times that I did not learn," is at once joyful and a tad cautionary:

"And as I drank in old Paris / She lay her cards just to see what she would see / Down by the water you'll find your happy days / I burn today, I burn today."

Black, back when he was known as Black Francis, would rail and wail through songs such as the Pixies' "Debaser," "Dig for Fire" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven." On "Honeycomb," he finds different ways to use his voice. On the cover of "Dark End of the Street," for instance, his voice takes on a higher, sweeter quality that bears just a trace of trepidation.

"Honeycomb" was recorded in the studio of Dan Penn, who wrote "Dark End of the Street." He told Rolling Stone it was intimidating recording that song in that studio, with Penn on hand. The night before the session, he told the magazine, he spent all night in his hotel practicing it. That high level of care reflects in his vocal performance, which sounds more vulnerable than ever before.

While "Honeycomb" was recorded in just four days shortly before Black and his fellow Pixies embarked on their now famous comeback tour, it has a remarkably relaxed vibe. The album doesn't sound rushed. Instead, it carries a current of confidence and competence.

The musicianship on "Honeycomb" is top notch, as expected. Keyboardist Spooner Oldham (Neil Young, Janis Joplin), guitarist Steve Cropper (Booker T & the MG's), bassist David Hood (Traffic) and others, as well as producer Jon Tiven (Wilson Pickett, B.B. King), lend their considerable talents to making Black's words and melodies sparkle.

"Honeycomb" is a comfortable musical experience. From the opening notes of "Selkie Bride" to the closing bars of "Sing for Joy," Black demonstrates that he still can write some compelling tunes. If the current Pixies reunion wave ever dies down, and if there is any justice in the music industry, Black should have a healthy, productive and profitable solo career ahead of him.