Frank Black - Frank Black (4AD, 1993)

I credit buying Frank Black's Frank Black in the mall to slightly digging the single, Los Angeles, I had heard on the radio (Dallas' 94.5 the Edge). I was 14 years old, still shifting from my Whitesnake, Motley Crue, RATT phase into a coming of age with New Order, Peter Gabriel, and Sugar. This is one of the first albums I remember not liking most of it until the third or fourth listen. I have always been surprised how some of the greatest records slowly grow on me and eventually break through my thick skull. This album did exactly that.

Los Angeles went from the song that made me buy the record to my least enjoyed track on the album. I still like to mumble along during the spoken word part where he mis-pronounces Los Angeles with the hard "G" in the middle. The rest of the album felt like it was in a cooler and more elevated space - I think it was because the radio might have ruined LA for me and the rest of the record felt like I secretly owned it.

I Heard Ramona Sing, Czar, Every Time I Go Around Here and Don't Ya Rile 'Em (linked) all had everything I wanted in a rich guitar rock song. I always think about the great guitar that more than filled the spaces on this record - something I would come to love about Frank Black records.

"I've been working my way back to sane/It's coming back to me again." - Don't Ya Rile 'Em