For those of you who miss the heyday of distortion-soaked alternative groups of the 1990s, Show Me Your Tears is not going to fill the void. When Frank Black struck out on his own after the demise of The Pixies and picked up his band The Catholics, he left that sound behind him. The music Black plays now is far from the creaking, distant strains of his famous past work such as “Where is my Mind?” and closer to that of others his age. Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Dire Straits and other classic and blues-tinged rock ’n roll influences are present on Show Me Your Tears. Black himself states in the press release for the album: “There isn’t a happy one in the bunch.” But there is some fun to be had here.

The album starts with “Nadine,” which is unfortunately one of the least interesting songs on the album—it is as though Black got wrecked when he meant to get tipsy. Luckily, the odd structure of the song is forgotten with the opening strains of the second track, “Everything is New,” which sounds like classic roots rock; a perfect combination of Tom Petty’s laid-back sneer and Springsteen’s grit and thick instrumentation (the piano is especially appreciated here). In fact, Black even sings of a character named Billy Jean. He knows that a lyrical classic rock story always has a certain old-school charm.

This is followed by a few forgettable songs, and the memorable “Massif Centrale.” This is the most Pixies-like song on the album, and therefore one of the best. Black sings the verses in a strange falsetto, but the song overall has more passion and personality than any of the others up to this point. It also seems to be a fairly hopeful song, with the message of a possible love to come. Black states like a schoolboy, “I can smell it in the wind/’cause I guess/that it’s the time/and I saw the way/you grinned/you were giving me/the sign.”

This is where the album picks up, as “When Will Happiness Find Me Again?” “Goodbye Lorraine” and “The Snake” bring misery, longing and rock ’n roll arrogance to the mix, respectively. The drunken singalong “When Will Happiness Find Me Again?” paints a comic cliché of the tortured romantic: “Should I stay here and stumble around/or head to the woods far away?/I can’t make up my mind/I’m drunk all the time/When will happiness find me again?”

The best song on the album is “Coastline,” a pretty, fireside cowboy kind of tune, with the harmonica adding an essential bit of melancholy. This is the most distinctive song on the album in that it has the softest touch and the most heartfelt emotion; Black steps out of the shadow of his influences and shows that he can be a powerfully talented folk musician when he wants to be. Though it is sometimes obscured by safe, ordinary songwriting, Show Me Your Tears is at times an immensely enjoyable album. If anything, Black deserves credit for the confidence with which he presents it all. The chorus of the final song, “Manitoba,” states assuredly, “I have seen the face of God/And I am not afraid.”