At the end of a June I got a very big surprise; out of nowhere Pixies had put out a brand new track, and more than that, it was really good!
Unmistakably them, with all of their calling cards present; soft-loud verse chorus dynamic, wailing whining lead, acerbic menace from Frank Black, simple plaintive backing vocals from Kim Deal (sadly now departed from the band). It was all there, albeit with a slightly different electronic feel to the rhythm section. I was incredibly excited, incredibly intrigued, and incredibly happy.
Pixies are definitely one of my favourite bands, and seem to be a favourite of many other bands I enjoy greatly. Considering their influence, it is a shame that they don't receive the recognition that perhaps they deserve. I consider them much more exciting than Nirvana, for example, yet Cobain et al are the ones whose name was emblazoned on all of the hooded tops at secondary school at the turn of the century. I guess for many they're a bit too out there. Quite often you don't know what to expect, their music at times delivering savage violence and esoteric lyrics. Many listeners no doubt would find these factors abrasive in different ways, and bands such as Nirvana, whilst no less artful, tended to push the limits less, singing with and about more accessible human angst, apathy, and depression.
Without Pixies, a lot of my favourite songs and bands would have probably not come to be. Here's a small selection of those things that are heavily indebted to them.
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
This is well documented, and there's not much more I can really add about this. For many, sentiments such as, "I found it hard, it's hard to find, oh well, whatever, never mind," will strike more of a chord than, "There was a guy, an underwater guy who controlled the sea..." The difference between a chart hit and a cult classic? The respective highest UK chart placings are as follows: 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' - no. 7. 'Monkey Gone To Heaven' - no. 60.
Kings of Leon - Charmer
This was the last thing they released before I lost all interest in them, the final single before album no. 4, 'Sex On Fire', global arena domination, MOR radio and mundanity. This is probably my favourite song by them, basically because they've just decided to rip off the Pixies, but they've made a great fist of it. Not only aping the music style, Caleb Followill has decided to emulate Black's trademark squeals AND delivers lyrics that offer a Deep South take on the obscure and precise pain that often presides in a Pixies song. British Sea Power - Apologies to Insect Life
Another one that takes the Pixies formula and runs with it. What this one does is also find the space that exists between the instruments, where the guitars can drop out letting the song run on with the percussion, with just spiky wisps of feedback to cover its naked body. This becomes more apparent when both Pixies and BSP are playing live ('Vamos' is a great example of this) and it creates a space that allows the audience into the song more, whilst at the same time giving more weight to that soft/hard quiet/loud dynamic. Feeder - Buck Rogers
This song was a massive part of my growing up, and made Echo Park the joint first album I bought. Here marks the application of Pixies' rock dynamic to create a track with the charts in mind. Grant Nicholas has publically described the song as a "throwaway pop song" when originally he'd "been trying to write a song that sounded like the Pixies." I'd like to think that subliminally it was the reason I went to uni in Exeter, driving me towards getting a house in Devon. Still to drink cider from a lemon though.
Electric Six - Naked Pictures (Of Your Mother)
Electric Six's Pixies influence is more subtle than the others. I think it comes across most in their song structure, though the second verse in this particular song is textbook. Frontman Dick Valentine regularly plays 'Hey' as part of his acoustic sets, and early on in E6's career, where his songwriting was most dominant, the verse-chorus-verse-chorus, quiet/loud, power chord dynamics were frequent, and there was definitely a whole lot of Pixies underneath the disco rock. They've reached out and widened their output now, but at the core of Electric Six there still lies that alt. rock nugget that owes so much to Boston's finest.
Hopefully 'Bagboy' will be joined in the future with further new material. I've been lucky enough to get a ticket to see them play at Hammersmith Apollo in November. Even without Kim Deal it's going to be gigantic.
