| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Carl |
Posted - 08/16/2006 : 15:49:52
http://www.newtimesbpb.com/Issues/2006-08-17/music/outtakes.html
Pixie Progress
How to view the regrouping of the Pixies, one of the most mercurial bands of the late '80s, a
group many claim opened the door for Nirvana and the grunge generation of the early '90s?
Those early efforts still sound shocking — menacing, malevolent melodies pierced by torrents of
jagged guitar and stuttering rhythms, all underscored by leader Black Francis' nihilistic
pontificating. Internal dissension caused the band to split a scant five years after its first
recording — the superb Surfer Rosa — and a mere three years after its major-label
breakthrough, the dazzling Doolittle.
Following the breakup, Black Francis opted to reverse his moniker and venture out on a prolific
if uneven solo career as Frank Black. His two most recent opuses, Fast Man Raider Man and
Honeycomb, showed him newly entrenched in Americana territory and soaking up a sizable
infusion of Blood on the Tracks. Bassist Kim Deal went on to moderate success with the
Breeders and struggled with sobriety. Drummer David Lovering and guitarist Joey Santiago
formed the Martinis before Lovering left to tour with Cracker, study engineering, and reinvent
himself as a performance artist, or, as he terms it, a "scientific phenomenalist." Santiago's lately
settled into a more urbane occupation as a soundtrack composer.
What a surprise, then, that a tentative Pixies reconciliation resulted in a 2004 tour that found
the band as potent as ever. Two new DVD releases — LoudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies
and Acoustic: Live in Newport — show opposing views of this perpetually conflicted outfit and
its retooled presence in the new millennium. The former is perhaps the most revealing, an
intimate portrait of the personalities involved who, between various concert clips from their
recent reunion gigs, lay bare their inner souls, a tack that makes them decidedly less
intimidating to their fans and, one supposes, to one another. The acoustic offering shows them
in the most unlikely of circumstances — at the venerable Newport Folk Festival, the venue
where Dylan went electric and was bombarded by catcalls in return. "We're a rock band," Deal
announces before they launch themselves unplugged on an opposite route, managing to make
angst-ridden anthems like "Monkey Gone to Heaven," "Bone Machine," and even "Wave of
Mutilation" less a series of sanitized sing-alongs than actual hints of the essential if irascible
melodies that lie at their core.
So how do the Pixies fare? Remarkably well considering their infamous in-fighting and the
passage of time. By allowing themselves to reveal their own humanity and accessibility, each
offering demonstrates in its own way that while one might mellow, it doesn't have to be at the
expense of passion or purpose. At the very least, it's a case worth considering. — Lee
Zimmerman
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| s_wrenn |
Posted - 08/16/2006 : 16:01:22
Cool! Thanks for this Carl
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