Black Francis, Joey Santiago, David Lovering and Kim Deal were the guys (and girl) who invented that whole "slow, quiet, acoustic-strumming, whispered bit; FAST, LOUD, WILD, OVERDRIVEN-THRASHING, SCREAMING BIT; back to the slow quiet bit." school of song-writing which would later be adopted by Nirvana and subsequently turned into a cliché by a thousand sub-metal Grunge bands.

Between October '87 and November '91 they released the mini-album Come On Pilgrim, four albums Surfer Rosa, Doolittle, Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde and a handful of singles - all of which are of course absolutely essential - and then, as suddenly as they had first appeared, they were no more.

And now, 9 years later, we are presented with the latest instalment in 4AD's continuing campaign to wring the last remaining drop of currency out of their legacy. We've had the "Best Of" (Death To The Pixies); the live album (cunningly included in a limited-edition double-pack with the best-of.. at an additional cost, naturally!); the Pixies At The BBC radio sessions compilation; and now, as it gets increasingly difficult to scrape anything else marketable off the bottom of this particular barrel, the Pixies' Complete 'B' Sides.

Of course there are a number of elements that we would expect to find in any collection of 'B' sides, so let's check to see that they're all present and correct:

1. Superfluous live / remixed / instrumental / "alternative" versions

All present and correct - an alternative version of River Euphrates, a live version of Vamos, The Thing (actually a re-mix of part of The Happening) and an instrumental version of Letter To Memphis.

2. Cover versions / tributes

No less than three songs by the (other) godfather of Grunge, Neil Young - Kim Deal takes over lead vocal duties for respectful and respectable versions of Into The White and I've Been Waiting for You, and she and Black Francis duet and alternate to great effect on Winterlong. There's also a wonderfully Pixie-fied version of Graham Gouldman / The Yardbird's Evil Hearted You - sung in Spanish no less.

In fact a convincing argument could be made for including most - if not all - of these in section 4.

3. Other curiosities

There's a live version of In Heaven (Lady In The Radiator Song), which - since it is a cover (of sorts) of the song in David Lynch's disturbing film Eraserhead - arguably belongs in section 2., and - since it is clearly not a good performance and vastly inferior to the version on Pixies At the BBC - also arguably belongs in section 1.

On the other hand, the slow, haunting, almost ethereal "UK Surf" version of Wave Of Mutilation escapes inclusion in section 1. because it is so markedly different to the throbbing beast on the Doolittle album.

Dave Lovering demonstrates that as vocalist he made a great drummer, as he sings of his unrequited love for Debbie Gibson on Make Believe.

The instrumental Theme From Narc also arguably belongs under section 2., having apparently been based on part of the incidental music from an arcade game.

4. Apparently unfinished, abandoned or rejected compositions

Manta Ray starts off promisingly and is not without a certain quirky charm but ultimately the chorus is lacking hook and the overall effect seems to be somewhat formulaic Pixies-by-numbers.

Velvety Instrumental Version and Santo are simply rather uninspired and uninspiring.

Build High has something of a spaghetti-western feel and again is not without a certain charm but ultimately doesn't seem to go anywhere.

5. Forgotten gems

Of course this is what we're all really hoping for when we buy a collection like this and - although, unsurprisingly, there isn't anything approaching any of their real classics lurking here - there are still a few which are as good as most of the tracks on their albums.

Weird At My School has all the hallmarks of classic early Pixies - dramatic false-start, the bizarre juxtaposition of flamenco and screeching lead guitars, Kim Deal and Black Francis' vocals interacting to dramatic effect and a distinctive snapping snare - and would happily hold it's own somewhere on Come On Pilgrim.

Dancing The Manta Ray and Bailey's Work are gloomy, leaden-footed and spartan and Black Francis' vocals are a deeply menacing growl on the former and a hoarse, scratchy, screech on the latter. Both are effective numbers, however they are not typical Pixies tracks and might have been difficult to fit-in stylistically with any of the album material, which is possibly why they were relegated to 'B' side status.

As a final incentive, if you're still hesitant (or already own all the singles) the CD includes the videos for Here Comes Your Man and Allison. The bottom line however is that this really is exactly what you'd expect: a handy collection for the existing Pixies' fanatic who hasn't already collected all this material, but not really offering enough to be of real interest to anyone else.

Also released recently is the latest document of the "solo" voyage that Black Francis embarked upon after disbanding the Pixies in 1982 and renaming himself Frank Black.

Now all that I - or, indeed I suspect most people - have ever really wanted from Frank Black is for him to continue churning out stuff that sounds like the Pixies.

With his first, self-titled "solo" album, which was released in 1993, he came fairly close. The following year's Teenager Of The Year was something of a disappointment (certainly judging them by this criterion) and saw Frank floundering as he attempted to explore a bewildering variety of different musical styles from Surf Rock through Grunge and Thrash Metal to Beatles / Beach Boy-esque pop, with no real sense of purpose or direction. This feeling of listlessness was continued through 1996's The Cult Of Ray, 1998's Frank Black And The Catholics and 1999's Pistolero.

Dog In The Sand sees Frank reunited with Joey Santiago and former Captain Beefheart and Pere Ubu keyboard player Eric Drew Feldman for the first time since Teenager Of The Year (incidentally another former Magic Band luminary, Moris Tepper, also appears on a couple of tracks). Yet far from simply being an attempt to recapture lost glories, this seems to indicate that he has taken his bearings from the point at which he apparently got blown off course and lost his bearings, and to be sailing forth on an even keel and making some real headway at last.

A more relaxed and mature style has evolved, with some fashionably (alt-)country influences coming to the fore. Of course there are also some very occasional subtly knowing echoes of The Pixies in the way some of the chord sequences and the instruments and the different parts of the songs mesh together. Curiously Frank's vocal style seems to offer the least of these little musical winks and he has developed his musical palette to display far more richness, range and variety rather than the alternating extremes of whispering and hoarse screaming that were his stock-in-trade as a Pixie.

It is inevitable that these two albums will be compared and yet - despite having foolishly volunteered to do so - this suddenly seems a far less straightforward and unenviable task than I had anticipated.

Pixies 'B' Sides may only be the warmed-through leftovers of a band who ceased to exist 9 years ago - but they are the still part of the legacy of a band which I and a lot of people hold very dear and which continues to cast a very long shadow.

Frank Black on the other hand has spent the whole of the last 9 years living in the shadow of The Pixies and finally seems ready to emerge from it. It will be a shame if the world is not prepared to allow Dog In The Sand to reach a wider audience than just old Pixies obsessives; even if that is almost inevitably a significantly smaller audience.

Order Complete B Sides from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

View Pixies' catalogue at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

View Frank Black's catalogue at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk