| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| billgoodman |
Posted - 10/09/2024 : 22:49:30
Yes, sooner or later we'll have a topic on it anyway
- During a BBC interview FB mentions a new recording session in Londen in the fall.
- On October 7th Pixies share a rehearsal of Motoroller for Later With Jools Holland. Meaning that they are in the UK this month. Zombies-tour will not start for a month
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BF: Mag ik Engels spreken? |
| 35 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 05/29/2026 : 14:22:42
Did someone say Tranquilize Me is Death Horizon? |
| billgoodman |
Posted - 05/28/2026 : 23:07:55
Yeah, dying to hear those
Bogman is Long Rider btw
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BF: Mag ik Engels spreken? |
| Jamie |
Posted - 05/28/2026 : 20:03:38
Wasn't the story about Charles throwing his lyric book on the roof that he had like 40 songs and Tom Dalgety wanted to work on a bunch of half-finished stuff? It might not have been 40, but that's the number I remember.
I searched to try and find how many songs we know about that aren't released. I came up with:
Alice Prin
American Rhyme
Banks Of The Drain
Bogman
Down In Toulon
I Like To Drive
Pickerel Picker
Rats Alive
Screw Pine
Super Lecker
Tranquilize Me
Then if you don't count that Halloween EP as an official release, O Little Cloud and Last Night The Wolves Came out. Plus maybe Una and Land of Green, but those are probably alternate titles for Oona and Another Toe. Then of course these 8 new songs from Instagram.
|
| Bedbug |
Posted - 05/27/2026 : 16:34:08
Does that not include those Happy Halloween Black Francis tracks which are "more than 10 years old"? |
| Sprite |
Posted - 05/27/2026 : 12:33:58
On the way home from work today all I could focus on was the one word...'lots'. Would love to know how many! |
| billgoodman |
Posted - 05/27/2026 : 11:12:21
I kind of hope they do
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BF: Mag ik Engels spreken? |
| Troubles A Foot |
Posted - 05/27/2026 : 09:08:54
I saw that too on Instagram. Hmm. Hmm. HMM.
Here's a thought: I wonder if any of the Beneath the Eyrie bonus disc demos would be revisited, or do they consider those done and done? |
| Sprite |
Posted - 05/27/2026 : 00:21:38
Just adding this to the jigsaw (from the recent Esquire interview)
Any conscious citizen of the world who consumes meaningful works of art should abide by their duty of asking the obvious question: What are we working on, and what should we be hedging our bets on creatively?
"Everything. We have lots of songs that are unreleased and others that are in different stages (of completion)," Francis said. "Some of them go back more than 10 years."
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| Ziggy |
Posted - 05/21/2026 : 06:09:06
They've got a few weeks in between the Ireland shows at the start of June and the rest of the UK/Euro shows at the end of the month. I wonder if that'll lead to anything. |
| natenate101 |
Posted - 05/19/2026 : 09:54:15
Charles has been posting some acoustic stuff from hotel rooms the last few days. Sounds like new songs he is working on. Interesting. |
| Discoking |
Posted - 03/31/2026 : 04:09:56
managers?
 it's educational |
| oddball |
Posted - 03/30/2026 : 08:46:01
All of the activity on the Black Francis instagram page a month ago had me excited that something was coming soon. With whatever might have been recorded, the scrapped Pixies sessions a couple of years ago, the Super Lecker sessions which may have been scrapped as well, I would imagine there is indeed a treasure trove in place. I wonder if this scrapping of material was also happening before social media enabled us to be more aware of it. With Oddballs, Abbabubba, Christmass, it seemed like whatver was recorded ultimatley saw the light of day in some capacity. Why can't that approach co-exist with Pixies releases? |
| Troubles A Foot |
Posted - 03/28/2026 : 20:50:51
quote:
Originally posted by Brank_Flack
I wish some of the energy that went into relentless touring went into recording instead. Or at the very least, that Charles would release from his treasure trove of demoes and outtakes from the last 13 years or so. We were so spoiled before then... Charles' prolificacy was a big part of the fun of being a fan back in the day.
Not only that, but at least for some of us, when you wait years for an album, and then you don't even like it. |
| Brank_Flack |
Posted - 03/28/2026 : 15:11:59
Remember when it briefly seemed we'd be getting an album just a year apart from Zombies? I wonder if there's even one coming this fall. I wish some of the energy that went into relentless touring went into recording instead. Or at the very least, that Charles would release from his treasure trove of demoes and outtakes from the last 13 years or so. We were so spoiled before then... Charles' prolificacy was a big part of the fun of being a fan back in the day. |
| Sprite |
Posted - 09/03/2025 : 04:06:46
Sounds good to me! |
| Brank_Flack |
Posted - 08/31/2025 : 14:52:41
"we we got some stuff... we've already recorded some stuff that we we're going to finish, revisit, listen to them. I would say they're 70% baked." |
| billgoodman |
Posted - 08/30/2025 : 22:26:20
Some stuff is 70% baked
October is a month off from touring...
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BF: Mag ik Engels spreken? |
| oddball |
Posted - 08/29/2025 : 12:30:07
At least something is in the works based on this recent interview with Joey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy1HCvXOuY8
-oddball |
| Skatealex1 |
Posted - 08/20/2025 : 16:10:40
I got an app that for playing music files and sorting them through my phone (pulsar for Android) so I can listen to non streaming stuff like Christmass from my phone when I get the itch to do so. |
| Troubles A Foot |
Posted - 08/20/2025 : 11:15:30
My iPod becoming outdated has been awful for stuff like that. Tons of albums and songs I love not streaming at all. I mean I'm into fairly under the radar music. It's too much of a hassle figuring out how to play this stuff in the car (where I 90% listen to stuff.) I love the bonus songs on Christmass. What a generous heaping from Frank to throw those on the live album. |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 08/20/2025 : 02:33:19
quote:
Originally posted by Skatealex1
Agreed about the formulaic nature of a lot of the newer stuff.
I'm actually listening to Christmass as I write this. Admittingly that is from some time ago with a younger Frank Black but still- listen to how dynamic a song like Massif Central or Don't Get Me Wrong are- classic rock influence or not doesn't even matter when listening to a lot of his songs from this era.
Also on topic- I also feel like Bluefinger was kind of a great version of a modern day Black Francis and even the more chill/non screaming songs there are cool- Lolita, Your Mouth Into Mine, etc. Top tier Francis songs and no screaming needed either.
I wonder why Christmass is never streaming. DGMW is the best |
| Troubles A Foot |
Posted - 08/17/2025 : 12:21:22
Yes, and then even "formulaic" and simpler stuff like Coastline is at least recorded with a lot of realness and warmth so it feels genuinely emotional to me. But the new Pixies stuff has a production style that feels over processed or something. |
| Skatealex1 |
Posted - 08/17/2025 : 10:47:06
Agreed about the formulaic nature of a lot of the newer stuff.
I'm actually listening to Christmass as I write this. Admittingly that is from some time ago with a younger Frank Black but still- listen to how dynamic a song like Massif Central or Don't Get Me Wrong are- classic rock influence or not doesn't even matter when listening to a lot of his songs from this era.
Also on topic- I also feel like Bluefinger was kind of a great version of a modern day Black Francis and even the more chill/non screaming songs there are cool- Lolita, Your Mouth Into Mine, etc. Top tier Francis songs and no screaming needed either. |
| The Maharal |
Posted - 08/17/2025 : 03:04:47
Yeah I think Kim's voice was definitely used in atypical ways and brilliantly so. More recent Pixies over-egg the dual harmonies as if they're compensating for previous sins. Off the top of my head I'm thinking Bel Esprit and Vegas Suite as the worst offenders. Mercy Me too, a song I otherwise like a lot, uses it a bit too much. And almost every chorus in every song. (This post unfortunately prompted me to listen to I Hear You Mary again.) Emma generally sounds excellent but yeah it's overdone. |
| Troubles A Foot |
Posted - 08/16/2025 : 18:54:14
quote:
Originally posted by The Maharal
For me one of the biggest drawbacks of Pixies post-IC is BF pandering far too much to the male/female harmonies. Giving far too much gravitas to female backing vocals.
Hmm, that's an interesting criticism. You mean how Kim's voice was used in atypical ways and often not to just make the song more "powerful" or sweet sounding or etc? I can see that.
This other band I like did a similar thing. It's hard to explain without sounding like "no girls allowed!" but for their 2nd album they added a female vocalist with a very classically pretty voice, and then just overused her on every song in very obvious "this sounds PRETTY!!!!!" ways, and for me it completely changed the feel of the band, which was a bit more rough and quirky and...boyish? |
| The Maharal |
Posted - 08/16/2025 : 03:34:18
For me one of the biggest drawbacks of Pixies post-IC is BF pandering far too much to the male/female harmonies. Giving far too much gravitas to female backing vocals. Added to the slightly off-kilter intros and the country-ish / classic rock sound it's all very formulaic and forgetful. Well, not all of it obviously, there's still three or four bangers on every album.
It would be nice if he were to do something with EDF or Mark Mulcahy again. Or even Tiven. |
| Troubles A Foot |
Posted - 08/15/2025 : 23:40:25
quote:
Originally posted by Jamie
quote:
Originally posted by Brank_Flack
let's also not pretend FB's output beginning with Frank Black and the Catholics hasn't been increasingly classic rock rather than indie/alternative/college radio orientated.
Exactly. Some of the discourse in this thread leaves me scratching my head.
I don't think it's that confusing. Catholics is its own thing. Pixies is its own thing. Both carry certain expectations or were consistently presenting a specific sort of sound (or sub-genre) for years. Think about someone like David Lowery and his two bands, Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker. They're both unmistakably Lowery's style but they also both have specific hallmarks of the sound (with some overlap too.)
That Frank leaned into classic rock during the Catholics, for me, has no bearing on what a Pixies album should be expected to sound like. In fact when he changed his name back to Black Francis and put out something like Bluefinger, that was more along the lines of how I imagined he would alter his style as he comes back to the Pixies.
I don't (or I didn't used to) really see the Pixies as Frank and the Pixies, I see it as the Pixies. I guess this is the fundamental difference between some of the members here. For me, Pixies is a certain box that certain kinds of songs should fall into, and Catholics or solo material is another kind of box. Both boxes are on the same shelf, but they are different boxes. |
| Brank_Flack |
Posted - 08/12/2025 : 09:30:51
quote:
Originally posted by Bedbug
quote:
Originally posted by Jamie
quote:
Originally posted by Brank_Flack
let's also not pretend FB's output beginning with Frank Black and the Catholics hasn't been increasingly classic rock rather than indie/alternative/college radio orientated.
Exactly. Some of the discourse in this thread leaves me scratching my head.
I guess I don't hold the Pixies sacred in that way, it's always been Frank Black and the Pixies to me. It's just Charles's evolution as a songwriter. The Pixies are my favorite backing band of his, so I prefer that he's working with them, "classic rock" as it may be. I'd rather have Joey's guitar and female backing vocals than not (and I'm excited to hear how they use Emma's vocals on the next one).
But if we ever figure it out and all come to a consensus, then what will the twelve of us on this forum ever have to talk about?
"There's a dozen of us! A dozen!" |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 08/12/2025 : 03:05:43
quote:
Originally posted by Jamie
quote:
Originally posted by Brank_Flack
let's also not pretend FB's output beginning with Frank Black and the Catholics hasn't been increasingly classic rock rather than indie/alternative/college radio orientated.
Exactly. Some of the discourse in this thread leaves me scratching my head.
I guess I don't hold the Pixies sacred in that way, it's always been Frank Black and the Pixies to me. It's just Charles's evolution as a songwriter. The Pixies are my favorite backing band of his, so I prefer that he's working with them, "classic rock" as it may be. I'd rather have Joey's guitar and female backing vocals than not (and I'm excited to hear how they use Emma's vocals on the next one).
But if we ever figure it out and all come to a consensus, then what will the twelve of us on this forum ever have to talk about? |
| Jamie |
Posted - 08/11/2025 : 20:30:48
quote:
Originally posted by Brank_Flack
let's also not pretend FB's output beginning with Frank Black and the Catholics hasn't been increasingly classic rock rather than indie/alternative/college radio orientated.
Exactly. Some of the discourse in this thread leaves me scratching my head.
I guess I don't hold the Pixies sacred in that way, it's always been Frank Black and the Pixies to me. It's just Charles's evolution as a songwriter. The Pixies are my favorite backing band of his, so I prefer that he's working with them, "classic rock" as it may be. I'd rather have Joey's guitar and female backing vocals than not (and I'm excited to hear how they use Emma's vocals on the next one).
|
| Skatealex1 |
Posted - 08/07/2025 : 17:39:58
I agree with 2.0 as being Frank Black and Pixies, etc... I just kinda wish he could tap a little more into the older approach a bit somehow.
I'm sure a new producer could make a big difference here as has been mentioned. The fact that the BTE demos are possibly some of my favorite Pixies 2.0 releases kinda suggests that for me. Those songs kind of have the more spontaneous feel I get from some of Franks best solo works (IMO) including with the Catholics and the seemingly low production on those actually elevates it for me. |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 08/07/2025 : 17:29:54
quote:
Originally posted by Brank_Flack
I'm fine with whoever he chooses to play with, including the Pixies who aren't a shabby backing band. At this points, I consider Pixies 2.0 albums as extensions of the Frank Black/Black Francis solo discography rather than the Pixies 1.0 canon, which helps me be less finicky about each new release. In the grand scheme of his post-TOTY albums, I think the Pixies 2.0 albums are all solid, with BTE in the DITS and Bluefinger camp of post-imperial classics, Indie Cindy being in the next tier, and HC/Doggerel/TNTZC being in the middle rather than lower tier.
A change of producers would excite me more than a change of band, but I can live with Tom. I do think Tom is in part responsible for the classic rock sound of Pixies 2.0, but let's also not pretend FB's output beginning with Frank Black and the Catholics hasn't been increasingly classic rock rather than indie/alternative/college radio orientated. I reckon what they need is a producer who pushes them away from their instincts towards classic rock (like Norton did on IC) rather than one who leans in on it (i.e., Tom).
Agreed, and I've been saying this for a long time (probably thought it when TLM came out) and apparently I still don't get tired of talking about it: 2.0 is best seen as Frank Black and the Pixies not the Pixies, for a number of reasons.
If a genie asked me what would I want this next album to be, I honestly don't know what I would ask for. I'm really happy with all of 2.0 and wouldn't really change much. But I'm definitely open to something totally different sounding as well. |
| Stevio10 |
Posted - 08/07/2025 : 12:57:27
Yeah agree with these points. Kinda sums it up when Pixies social media posts tribute to Ozzy Osbourne but will neglect Brian Wilson or David Thomas - nothing against Ozzy love him but love the others as well.
Maybe in 2025 it's just enough to be relevant and touring, staying in the circuit. Pixies do that very well and a new album every couple of year helps.
But let's face it, it's the classic material that sells tickets. It's interesting they have a night for Trompe / Bossanova and a night for a classic set. Why don't they have a night for 2.0 material? I doubt it would sell as well.
It seems they put faith in Tom helping them stay relevant in a world where alt rock is diminishing and their peers are no longer around or relevant.
Personally I would like a Frank Black album every year or two - doesn't need to tour it, just release stuff for people who want it. Pixies make up with Kim, tour classic material every few years. Sounds like a decent compromise to me. |
| Brank_Flack |
Posted - 08/07/2025 : 11:43:03
I'm fine with whoever he chooses to play with, including the Pixies who aren't a shabby backing band. At this points, I consider Pixies 2.0 albums as extensions of the Frank Black/Black Francis solo discography rather than the Pixies 1.0 canon, which helps me be less finicky about each new release. In the grand scheme of his post-TOTY albums, I think the Pixies 2.0 albums are all solid, with BTE in the DITS and Bluefinger camp of post-imperial classics, Indie Cindy being in the next tier, and HC/Doggerel/TNTZC being in the middle rather than lower tier.
A change of producers would excite me more than a change of band, but I can live with Tom. I do think Tom is in part responsible for the classic rock sound of Pixies 2.0, but let's also not pretend FB's output beginning with Frank Black and the Catholics hasn't been increasingly classic rock rather than indie/alternative/college radio orientated. I reckon what they need is a producer who pushes them away from their instincts towards classic rock (like Norton did on IC) rather than one who leans in on it (i.e., Tom). |
| Bedbug |
Posted - 08/07/2025 : 10:36:21
quote:
Originally posted by Troubles A Foot
God just be Frank Black again and work with whoever
This sums it up nicely for me |
