Frank Black’s second solo album Teenager Of The Year is often described as “The best album the Pixies never made”, and that’s a pretty hard assertion to argue against. Yet, it is also a record that boldly threw down a marker with regards to his solo endeavours and signposted what’s proving to be a wonderfully eclectic career. In truth, Teenager Of The Year exists somewhere in between, amongst its sprawling 22 tracks are songs that can rival anything his former band produced whilst others evidence an artist not content to rest on past glories. Now remastered and reissued on double vinyl (cut at 45rpm) there’s never been a better time to rediscover this intriguing album.

In the musically confused decade that was the 1990’s, some albums were so far ahead of the curve that time is only just catching up and that’s certainly the case with Teenager Of The Year. It certainly makes more sense than when it first hit the streets in 1994 and the lukewarm reviews it received now seem downright puzzling. Opener ‘Whatever Happened To Pong?’ is a courageous gambit and is indicative of the whole album; like a ball of static it bristles with energy and sends sparks flying in every direction. Imagine a less abrasive version of The Fall and you’d have something approaching this record, I say “something” because this is a record that refuses to be categorised. There’s the surf-indie ‘Speedy Marie’, speaker-shattering hard rock from ‘Thalassocracy’, the other-worldly, dreamlike quality of ‘Sir Rockaby’, a reggae beat punctuates ‘Fiddle Riddle’ while Frank sings like a deranged Bob Dylan on ‘Olé Mulholland’. This is an album that tries on different styles like a model tries on clothing, but Teenager Of The Year wears them all with panache. It’s eclecticism is also its strength and ensures that its 22 track vista and 63-minute running time never becomes staid.

When the Pixies originally split in 1993 the fanbase was divided as to who was the band’s creative force. Some cite the bass playing of Kim Deal as integral to the Pixies’ sound whilst others point to Frank’s songwriting skills and vocals as being the key to their success and Teenager Of The Year proves the magic very much came from the latter. With a wildly twisted lyricism (check out ‘Superabound’ and its immortal line “I saw a chicken with two heads”) that would be developed later in his career, this album is full of such lyrical soundbites that’ll make prick up your ears and constantly spike your interest. As such, one listen isn’t enough to take in all of this album’s charms and it’ll reward repeat plays as nuances buried in the mix by co-producer Eric Drew Feldman reveal themselves. But when the songs are as good as those found on Teenager Of The Year, successive spins are no hardship.

• Teenager Of The Year is released via 4AD/Frank Black on 24th January 2025.
• Official Website

Track List:

Side A:

1. Whatever Happened To Pong?
2. Thalassocracy
3. (I Want To Live On An) Abstract Plain
4. Calistan
5. The Vanishing Spies
6. Speedy Marie

Side B:

7. Headache
8. Sir Rockaby
9. Freedom Rock
10. Two Reelers
11. Fiddle Riddle

Side C:

12. Olé Mulholland
13. Fazer Eyes
14. I Could Stay Here Forever
15. The Hostess With The Mostest
16. Superabound

Side D:

17. Big Red
18. Space Is Gonna Do Me Good
19. White Noise Maker
20. Pure Denizen Of The Citizens Band
21. Bad, Wicked World
22. Pie In The Sky