Black sings the blues

With each successive album that Frank Black puts out, his music sounds less and less like the band that made him famous, and that's actually a good thing. The Pixies were a once in a lifetime band that shouldn't (and couldn't) be repeated. These days Black seems content on writing well-crafted songs and making tasteful records with top studio musicians. \nBlack's new double-disc effort, Fast Man Raider Man, is essentially a continuation of his last offering Honeycomb, both solid "adult-alternative" rock albums with touches of jazz, blues, country and soul. \nOne of the most interesting facets of the expansive Fast Man is seeing where Black's record collection will take him next. The opener, "If Your Poison Gets You," with its scatter-step jazz beat and half-spoken/half-sung vocal line is reminiscent of Van Morrison's better work. "In the Time of My Ruin," a jittery mix of pop and R&B, recalls Elvis Costello's Get Happy album with the Attractions. Elsewhere, Frank channels Randy Newman on the bouncy "Dog Sleep," and does his best Aaron Neville impression of the falsetto-tinged "Fast Man."\nBlack also does his best to keep some variation within the 27 songs on the album, attempting as many genres and different feels as he can. The rollicking barroom stomp of "Johnny Barleycorn" is night and day from the world-weary soul of "Sad Old World," but both work remarkably well. Other standouts include "Wanderlust," which is highlighted by some wonderfully melancholy saloon-style piano, and the shouter "Elijah," really the only time Black allows his voice to approach anything remotely resembling his Pixies vocal stylings. \nWhile Fast Man has plenty of good to offer, it does suffer from being overly bloated. Expansive double albums rarely sustain themselves from start to finish and this set is no exception. There is far too much filler with too many songs that are just plain unremarkable. Some songs, like the annoying "It's Just Not Your Moment," should've never made it past the demo stage. "I'm Not Dead (I'm in Pittsburgh)" is some kind of sick joke, like you've stumbled across some lame lounge act at a seedy motel, and the Kumbaya-ish "Golden Shore" sounds best fit for a campfire, and for Frank, that's certainly not a good thing. \nThe backing band for Fast Man, comprised of numerous studio legends like Steve Cropper and David Hood among others, works as both a blessing and a curse. The band is unquestionably skilled and tight, but many times the music comes out far too slick and professional for its own good. You sometimes wish that Joey Santiago would sneak into a song and unleash an ear-shattering lead, but it never happens. \nWhichever musical avenues he chooses to explore, Frank Black remains an interesting and essential artist, a man of many tastes with a seemingly endless amount of ideas always running through his mind. And even with Fast Man Raider Man's mixed results, there is still a good 12-13 song album located somewhere within its overloaded track listing, it's just up to you to find it.