The Pixies reunion tour has been going strong around the world for a year and a half now, so how lead singer Frank Black found the time to record his first proper solo album since 1996's The Cult Of Ray is anyone's guess. What should shock Pixies and Black fans even further is that Honeycomb doesn't sound remotely like anything else he's ever done; Pixies, Catholics, or otherwise. Honeycomb is a full-blown Americana flavored album that was recorded live over four days in Nashville with the likes of legendary country-soul musicians such as Steve Cropper, Spooner Oldham and Anton Fig. It's been overheard on more than one occasion from Black's own lips that this album is a direct tribute to Bob Dylan's Blonde On Blonde. At one time, this album was actually slated to be called Black on Blonde instead of Honeycomb (but thank God it wasn't). On paper, with all the talent involved, Honeycomb should have been one for the ages.

Unfortunately however, after a few listens, you know this one's headed straight for the discount bin at your local used record shop, and how. There are a few loose gems such as the beautiful mid-tempo of "I Burn Today," "Sunny Sunday Mill Valley Groove Day" and the gorgeous duet between Black and his ex-wife on "Strange Goodbye". But for the most part, this album will lose the interest of listeners - who will certainly start to feel like this album was only recorded in four days, even if they didn't know that tidbit of info beforehand. The music throughout Honeycomb is bland and uninteresting at best, and Black's vocals are less than stellar and far from sharp. Honeycomb will bore Pixies fans to death, and I can't say Americana fans are going to be chomping at the bit to hear Black belting out a mediocre cover of the country-rock staple "Dark End Of The Street." It's disappointing that Honeycomb couldn't have turned out stronger, but hey, look on the bright side. At least this is a huge step up from that awful double disc of reworked Pixies songs and demos that Black released last year!