Grand Duchy : Petit Fours

Being a fan of the Pixies from way back I was interested to hear the latest offering from Frank Black or Black Francis or whatever he calls himself these days. Frank Black is just another in a long line of artists that fell from my internal grace for no good reason when the Pixies stopped doing music, but after a recent resurgence of 80’s tunes in to my general ear shot (I blame El Dan for this particular musical malady), I was primed and ready for a synth or two, and was geared up to hear the new Album from Grand Duchy, ‘Petit Fours’, which is a project including Frank Himself and his wife Violet Clarke. It was described to me as ‘a catchy set of brooding 80’s synth rock tunes’, and that was more than enough for me to be the go-to-guy on this one.

Well, after the first listen, both El Dan and I are hooked. It’s a really fresh sound, and quite a raw feel, utilizing aspects from all over the musical spectrum, and also those you would expect to hear coming from a Frank Black production. In an attempt to describe the vibe, imagine a slightly less heroin-driven, Velvet Underground minus the nasty brain-raking strings on one side, The Pixies in the middle there, and a space happy version of Silversun Pickups on the other side without the stacked effects.

It’s an easy listen, and any Pixies fan would do well to check it out but don’t expect Frank Black to be the lead vocal all the way through. Violet Clarke’s beautiful, and at times uncomfortable, airy melodies give an uplifting feel to driving punk bass lines that could quite easily have been lifted from any Pixies album, and the dark, crunchy guitars sit in the background, waiting for the spacey synths to die down before revealing themselves.

It’s like an updated, 80’s disco/rock crossover, and well worth a listen if your audio love-well is running dry.