The Pixies Return From Their Early 90s Grave

The popular late 80s, early 90s American rock band, the Pixies recently released their first album since their 1991 album “Trompe Le Monde.” The new record, “Indie Cindy,” brings the alternative rock band back to the musical stage.

The band was formed in 1986 in Boston, Massachusetts. Currently, the four-member band consists of three of its original members: Black Francis as lead vocals and on the rhythm guitar, Joey Santiago on the lead guitar and David Lovering on the drums. Paz Lenchantin currently resides as the fourth member of the band as a live bass player, but the majority of the tracks featured bassist Simon “Ding” Archer.

The song, “What Goes Boom” opens the album with hard rock style. The guitar is very recognizable and the song feels like an emo-esque hard rock song. However, the beat behind the song and the musical instruments being used tunes out the vocals throughout almost the entire song.

“Greens and Blues” is the second song on the album. It lets go of the hard rock sound and introduces a softer sound. The vocals are not drowned out. The harmony of the two voices in the song adds a great touch to the song.

The titular song, “Indie Cindy,” comes next. The different instruments in the song create a slight chaos which worsens when the vocals are introduced. It returns to the rock-style, but the mix feels off. Those who like the Pixies’ discordant older work, however, will likely get into this track.

“Bagboy” focuses on the drums in the song playing in background to the guitar. The vocals are almost nonexistent throughout the song. Clocking in as the longest track on the album, “Bagboy” starts to feel redundant as it goes on.

“Magdalena 318” begins as a good song with the balance of the vocals and the instruments, but towards the first minute a new instrument is introduced and completely drowns out the vocals.

“Silver Snail” slows the album down. It adds on a psychedelic sound reminiscent of some of the Pixies’ older work that drew from psychedelic classics from the 70s.

“Blue Eyed Hexe” returns to the hard rock sound with a loud guitar covering the vocals. However, the chorus is the good point of the song.

“Ring the Bell” is a nice, upbeat song. It is one of the better songs of the album. It drops the hard rock sound and the vocals can be heard over the instruments. It has a 90s, grungy feel to it and the beat is addictive.

The song “Another Toe in the Ocean” is another upbeat song. It does not include the hard rock sound either and the vocals can also be heard over the instruments. It is, however, a rather forgettable track on the album.

“Andro Queen” returns to a slight psychedelic sound with a slow beat. The instruments are more laid back than the first half of the album. The psychedelic sound adds a unique sound to the song in combination with the lyrics and the mixture of instruments included.

“Snakes” has a strong guitar solo. The beat is upbeat, but the mixture of instruments in the song creates an unpleasant feel until the vocals are introduced, creating a more pleasant sound.

The album closes with the song “Jaime Bravo.” It has an upbeat tone and strays away from the hard rock sound featured on much of the album. The mixture of vocals and instruments adds a pleasant, cheery feel to the song.

Overall, the album could have used more work. The hard rock sound of many of the songs feels disruptive and drowns out many of the vocals. Furthermore, the layout of the songs did not balance the album. The first half of the album included torturous, hard rock sounds and the second half begins with a lighter, upbeat sound that is more pleasant than the first half.

This new album, released officially on April 19, is not only their first album since 1991, but also their first album without the original bass guitar played Kim Deal. Deal is missed on the record, but bassists Archer and Lenchantin make the loss nearly unnoticeable.

The album includes twelve songs written by Black Francis, which includes the majority of the EPs they released since 1991.