Grand Duchy - Petits Fours reviews
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| Drownedinsound |
 It would almost certainly be a waste of time and words to talk much about Frank Black/Black Francis as a prelude (for those who don't know, click here). We all know of the Pixies and countless solo albums since the Bostonian giants split up, then reformed, did a bit of touring and...well, you really should know the whole back story back to front by now. For his next trick (actually, David Lovering was the magician in Pixies, wasn't he?) Black teamed up with his wife, Violet Clark, went into a studio, had a few arguments, made songs and came out with these tracks which ended up as Grand Duchy's first LP, a refined piece of work known as Petits Fours.
In some ways, this is a bit of an 80s nostalgia trip, but not one which sounds faintly or even hugely ironic. Bearing comparison perhaps to Neon Neon's Stainless Style, the neat tweaks and tricks of Petits Fours lack any of the over-blown garishness that 80s retrospective music can tend to have. Instead, a firm foot is placed in both past and present. This is certainly not nostalgia for its own sake, and with some of the records Black has put out, who needs nostalgia anyway?...full text |
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| Nme |
Frank Black and Violet Clark named Grand Duchy after the term for a territory ruled by a Grand Duke or Grand Duchess.
Frank Black also recently produced Art Brut’s forthcoming album Art Brut Vs Satan...full text |
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| Allmusic |
| Violet Clark grew up loving '80s synth pop and new wave; as Black Francis, Frank Black pioneered the alternative rock sound of the late '80s and early '90s. As Grand Duchy, the duo marry these styles into Petits Fours' shiny, surprisingly eclectic style. While Clark appeared on Black's Honeycomb and Fast Man Raider Man, Petits Fours feels truly like a joint effort -- they take turns singing lead and bringing their particular strengths to the fore, and Clark's contributions don't feel overwhelmed by playing with an alt rock great (who just happens to be her husband). Most of the songs Black takes the lead on wouldn't necessarily sound out of place on one of his own albums, especially the opening track "Come Over to My House"'s brash stomp, but even this song has more keyboards on it than any of his work since Frank Black or Teenager of the Year. However, if it weren't for his unmistakable full-throated howl, "Black Suit"'s darkly glamorous sheen could easily fit on an Interpol album. It's the songs on which Clark sings lead that really define Grand Duchy and Petits Fours: Clark, who was in other bands and self-released her own album before meeting and marrying Black, takes the album in very different directions, from the sultry synth pop of "Seeing Stars" to "Lovesick"'s sassy rock, on which her vocals have a touch of Kim Deal and other '90s alternative rock ladies to them. Given Black and Clark's previous collaborations, these songs are surprisingly expansive; when this works, it lends an epic cast to the power ballad "Long Song" and allows "Ermesinde" to morph from strummy acoustics to sweetly harmonized electronics with some Fiery Furnaces-like tangents along the way. At other times, songs like "Fort Wayne" and "Break the Angels" feel padded, and it's hard to shake the feeling that Petits Fours would be sweeter if it was a little shorter. Still, Grand Duchy have enough fun on the album that more often than not, it's contagious....full text |
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