Pixies

Australia, you disappoint me. One of the greatest bands of all time will be arriving on our shores for the very first time and the festival they’re headlining hasn’t even sold out yet. Who cares if they’re fat and old, the Pixies are just one of those bands that you MUST see. The only explanation for this atrocity is that some of you aren’t aware that the Pixies even exist. Or worse, you do know they exist, like a few of their songs, but have never taken the time to explore the rest of their music and hence fail to appreciate the true extent of their brilliance. Well if you fall under either of these two categories (I refuse to believe a third category of ‘Don’t like them’ exists), pay close attention, because over the next week or so, I’ll be taking a look at why they’re so great. By no means would I consider myself the biggest of Pixies fans, in fact, both my brothers are bigger fans. That’s not to say I don’t love them, just that I don’t listen to them anywhere near as much as I should. So this feature is as much about me preparing myself for their arrival as it is about converting non-believers. So whatever your view of the Pixies, you should find something of interest here; a new favourite band, a warm reminder about an already loved band or a chance to tell me I’m wrong and that you know more. Enjoy!

Band Info
Pixies are an alternate rock band from USA. They existed roughly from 1985 to 1992 and over that period released 5 albums. In 2004 they reunited and have since been touring extensively. The vast majority of Pixies music was written and sung by rhythm guitarist Frank Black (born Charles Thompson, named Black Francis during the Pixies era and now known as Frank Black) who is generally considered the creative centre the band. Occasional songs were done by bassist Kim Deal and the other members include Joey Santiago on lead guitar and Dave Lovering on drums. The Pixies’ influence stretches from Nirvana to Radiohead and while they never did and never will achieve mainstream success, their fans include some of the greatest musicians of the modern era. For me, one of the reasons I love them so much is that while their songs often sound very heavy, containing distortion and screaming, there’s always an underlying melody, melodies that never disappoint and are up there with the greatest ever written.

Their 5 albums are:

Come On Pilgrim (1987)
Surfer Rosa (1988)
Doolittle (1989)
Bossanova (1990)
Trompe le Monde (1991)

I will be talking about one every two days. Here’s a live track to keep you happy until Come on Pilgrim arrives on Wednesday.

Vamos (live) – It’s only fitting that song be offered live. Appearing on both of their first two albums with alternate solos, it is a crowd favourite at their live shows. The song’s appeal lies in its hefty solo in the middle where Santiago puts on an erratic performance so that you never know what to expect.