Dog in the Sand

For all the blathering about ex-Pixies frontman Frank Black being one of alternative rock’s godfathers, much of his recent work has had a decidedly classic-rock bent. On his third album with his current outfit, the Catholics (after two completely solo jaunts), that’s certainly the case, but it rarely hems him in. The oddly titled “Hermaphroditos Is My Name” is one of a few offerings here that sounds (almost uncomfortably) like an early-’70s Stones tune and “I’ll Be Blue,” could’ve jumped straight off Neil Young’s Zuma. In other places, Black reaches back even further, employing a convincing falsetto, a sweaty-afternoon pedal steel guitar, and doo-wop piano chops to get “Stupid Me” rolling and swaying like an old Gene Vincent song. Still, for better or worse, twangy, outlaw tunes (“Bullet,” “Llano Del Rio”) and dark, off-kilter rockers (“I’ve Seen Your Picture”) dig up the raw, restless spirit of Black’s Pixies days of yore. Actually, most of the time here, it’s for better.