It's been nine years since the last Pixies release, the forgettable Bam Thwok and the Warren Zevon cover Ain't That Pretty At All and things have changed significantly. Kim Deal has left...again, the band is reaching the age where one wonders if they still have enough fuel in the tank to keep going with the same insanity and energy of years past.
So it's surprising to see the band with not one, but two releases in short succession. Today's subject matter lies with EP-1, featuring four new songs which, despite the inclusion of all the other band members, sounds distinctly non-Pixies.
The tempo has been shortened dramatically, Black Francis finally sounds his age instead of the hyperactive cluster of screams and high-pitched squeals of the young man last seen on Trompe le Monde, there's a few sprinklings of guitar riffs from Joey Santiago, gone is the quiet-LOUD-quiet formula and the song lengths are distinctly long, gone are the minute and half bursts like Broken Face and Tame, instead replaced with a stereotypical formula of three to nearly five minute alternative rock songs.
Is this bad? Of course not! It's evolution, a surprisingly welcome evolution which sees the band refine their qualities to the bare basics for an enjoyable fifteen minute ride, whether slow opener Ando Queen with it's ethereal soundscape, the anthem-esq chorus of Indie Cindy, What Goes Boom which is as close as the band gets to recapturing the days of old with a faster tempo and thunderous pace or Another Toe in the Ocean with Santiago's easy on the ears bridge and Francis' distinct lyrics of morbid fantasy.
Whilst some will be horrified that EP-1 strays too far from the magical period of '88-'91 and might be a tad too generic, for me personally, it's a welcome surprise and a welcome change of pace, something familiar but something new and I can only hope that with this and the fantastic Bagboy, that we won't have to wait as long for their next release.
7/10
H
@Retcon_Nation
No comments:
Post a Comment