Music Review: Pixies EP1

Let me start off by saying there is Pixies music and there is Frank Black music. I love them both, but they are not the same thing (this could also be said about The Smiths music and Morrissey music.)

Pixies music is wild, weird, scary, off-beat, and usually hard to take in the first few listens. For the most part, Frank Black music is straight-ahead rock and roll, occasionally off-kilter, but much more 'normal' than Pixies stuff (a few notable exceptions: "Parry The Wind High Low" and the entire "Bluefinger" record.)

Which brings us to "EP1".

If this had been a Frank Black or even a Black Francis solo effort, I would have a very different opinion than I do.

But it's released as Pixies, my second-favorite band of all time (after the aforementioned Smiths.)

When I hit play on something called 'Pixies', I expect the elation and discomfort that I felt at my first listens of "Planet of Sound", "Tame", "The Happening", "River Euphrates" and all those masterpieces.

According to that measure, it's a mixed bag.

Since we're only talking about 4 songs, I'll break them down one by one.

"Andro Queen"

This is a really good Frank Black song. It would fit well on "Dog In The Sand". This does not seem like a Pixies song to me whatsoever. The singing is way too straight, there are no weird tempo changes, nothing really exciting. Just a Frank Black-style straightforward song. I would equate it to Frank's "The Swimmer".



"Another Toe In The Ocean"

Meh. This isn't even that good of a Frank Black song. Reminds me of the stuff from Frank Black and the Catholics (my least favorite Charles Thompson effort.) I hate to say it, but it's just kind of boring...and the lyrics are so-so.



"Indie Cindy"

This one definitely feels more Pixies-esque. Black Francis rattling off that Spanish and the weird changes definitely feels like old times. But where is the scream?



"What Goes Boom"

NOW we're talking. Pure, 100% awesome. This song makes sense as a natural follow-up to "Trompe Le Monde". If they put out an album of this stuff, I'd be there, there, there.



So, all-in-all not bad. It's great to have new Pixies stuff (and by the way, I loved "Bam Thwok"...one of my all-time favorite Pixies songs.) Hopefully they'll make more and hopefully it will be in the vein of "What Goes Boom".

And please bring back the scream. "TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMME!!!!!!"

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Jeffrey Dale Starr is a tequila enthusiast, oil painter, and owner of mobile software company Purple Falcon.