They are maybe my favourite band after the Beatles but I’ve got a wide taste and other concerns so I’ve only just found this . The idea of this sounds horrendous since capturing music on record is notoriously one of the most tedious processes in the world but this actually really works very well. Maybe it is because they gave themselves a strict time limit and booked a studio for just three weeks in total to come up with a finished album?
Maybe so. Guitarist Joey Santiago and singer/guitarist Black Francis (Charles Thompson) are reassuringly foul-mouthed but Joey has an excuse for it: this being his first project while completely sober. Drummer David is a magician, metal-detector and many other things and bassist Paz might be the most accomplished musician. The British voice is producer Tom Dalgety who only works with bands he loves but still has to be the one who will say that an idea isn’t right. Writer Tony Fletcher, a New York state-based Brit, is the journalist who probes gently and extracts some honesty.
It’s a good corrective to remember that creation involves throwing stuff away; time for thought; and straight ahead work. Those who can’t tell jokes usually fail because they only remember the attention-grabbing punchline and not the set up but the punchline only works with that set up. You have to build things in order to make the overall shine.
What goes for the band also goes for this podcast. A 12-parter of about half an hour each time is a lot to process but there are no dull spots so it itself has thrown a lot away to come up with its final presentation.
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