Bradley Haering, Asst. Tempo Editor

The entire indie-rock scene can be traced back to one entity: Pixies. In the late ’80s, Black Francis, Kim Deal, Dave Lovering and Joey Santiago created music that has influenced bands from Nirvana to Modest Mouse. After their initial breakup in 1993, Black Francis began a solo career, releasing albums as Frank Black (his real name) and the Catholics, as well as under his Pixies stage name.

His lyrical style is still the same as it’s always been. In typical Black Francis fashion, the lyrics are fodder for pretentious kids who think that they can find a deep meaning in nonsense. Although they don’t always make sense, the lyrics add well to the entertainment value of the album.

Black Francis still makes music true to what he was doing more than 20 years ago. In his case, it’s a good thing. “Bluefinger” reminds us of where much of today’s music comes from. Although this album is still heavily influenced by where indie-rock is today, Francis did a fine job keeping his place among his children.

GRADE: B