Pixies (band)

Pixies is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering (drums). They disbanded acrimoniously in 1993 but reunited in 2004. After Deal left in 2013, Pixies hired Kim Shattuck as a touring bassist; she was replaced that year by Paz Lenchantin, who became a permanent member in 2016.

Pixies is associated with the 1990s alternative rock boom, and draws on elements including punk rock and surf rock. Their music is known for dynamic "loud-quiet-loud" shifts and song structures. Francis is Pixies' primary songwriter; his often surreal lyrics cover offbeat subjects such as extraterrestrials, incest, and biblical violence. The band achieved modest popularity in the US but was more successful in Europe. Their jarring pop sound influenced acts such as Nirvana, Radiohead, the Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. Pixies' popularity grew in the years after their breakup, leading to a 2004 reunion, sold-out world tours and four further albums: '' Indie Cindy'' (2014), '' Head Carrier'' (2016), '' Beneath the Eyrie'' (2019) and '' Doggerel'' (2022).

History

Formation (1986)

Guitarist Joey Santiago and songwriter Black Francis (born Charles Michael Kitteridge Thompson IV) met when they lived next to each other in a suite while attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Although Santiago was worried about distractions, he noticed Francis played music and the pair began to jam together. Francis embarked on a student exchange trip to Puerto Rico to study Spanish. After six months, he returned to Amherst and dropped out of the university. Francis and Santiago spent 1984 working in a Boston-area warehouse, with Francis composing songs on his acoustic guitar and writing lyrics on the subway train.

The pair formed a band in January 1986. Two weeks later, Francis placed an advertisement seeking a bass player who liked both the folk act Peter, Paul and Mary and the alternative rock band Hüsker Dü. Kim Deal was the only respondent, and arrived at the audition without a bass, as she had never played one before. She was invited to join as she liked the songs Francis showed her. She obtained a bass, and the trio started rehearsing in Deal's apartment.

After recruiting Deal, Kim paid for her sister, Kelley Deal, to fly to Boston and audition as drummer. Though Francis approved, Kelley was not confident in her drumming, and was more interested in playing songs written by Kim; she later joined Kim's band the Breeders. Kim's husband suggested they hire David Lovering, whom Kim had met at her wedding reception. The group arrived at a name after Santiago selected the word "pixies" randomly from a dictionary, liking how it looked and its definition as "mischievous little elves". Pixies moved rehearsals to Lovering's parents' garage in mid-1986 and began to play shows at bars in the Boston area.

''Come on Pilgrim'' (1987)

While Pixies were playing a concert with Throwing Muses, they were noticed by producer Gary Smith, manager of Fort Apache Studios. He told the band he "could not sleep until you guys are world famous". The band produced a 17-track demo at Fort Apache soon afterwards, known to fans as the ''Purple Tape'' because of the tape cover's purple background. Funded by Francis' father at the cost of $1000, the recording session was completed in three days. Local promoter Ken Goes became the band's manager, and he passed the demo to Ivo Watts-Russell of the independent record label 4AD. Watts-Russell nearly passed on the band, finding them too normal, "too rock 'n' roll", but signed them at the persuasion of his girlfriend.

Upon signing with 4AD, eight tracks from the Purple Tape were selected for the '' Come on Pilgrim'' mini-LP, Pixies' first release. Francis drew upon his experiences in Puerto Rico, mostly in the songs "Vamos" and "Isla de Encanta", describing the poverty in Puerto Rico and singing in loose Spanish. The religious lyrics in ''Come on Pilgrim'' and later albums came from his parents' born-again Christian days in the Pentecostal Church. Critic Heather Phares sees themes such as sexual frustration ("I've Been Tired") and incest ("Nimrod's Son" and "The Holiday Song") on the record.

''Surfer Rosa'' and ''Doolittle'' (1988–1989)

''Come on Pilgrim'' was followed by Pixies' first full-length album, '' Surfer Rosa''. The album was recorded by Steve Albini (who was hired by Watts-Russell on the advice of a 4AD colleague), completed in two weeks, and released in early 1988. ''Surfer Rosa'' gained Pixies acclaim in Europe; both ''Melody Maker'' and '' Sounds'' gave ''Surfer Rosa'' their "Album of the Year" award. American critical response was also positive yet more muted, a reaction that persisted for much of the band's career. The album was eventually certified Gold in the U.S. in 2005. After the album was released, the band arrived in England to support Throwing Muses on the European "Sex and Death" tour—beginning at the Mean Fiddler in London. The tour also took them to the Netherlands, where Pixies had already received enough media attention to be headlining the tour. The tour became notable for the band's in-jokes, such as playing their entire set list in alphabetical order.

Meanwhile, Pixies signed an American distribution deal with major record label Elektra. Around this time, Pixies struck up a relationship with the British producer Gil Norton. Norton produced their second full album, '' Doolittle'', which was recorded in the last six weeks of 1988 and seen as a departure from the raw sound of ''Come on Pilgrim'' and ''Surfer Rosa''. ''Doolittle'' had a much cleaner sound, largely due to Norton and the production budget of US$40,000, which was quadruple that of ''Surfer Rosa''. ''Doolittle'' featured the single " Here Comes Your Man", which biographers Josh Frank and Caryn Ganz describe as an unusually jaunty and pop-like song for the band. " Monkey Gone to Heaven" was popular on alternative radio in the US, reaching the top 10 on the ''Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks, and the single entered the Top 100 in the U.K. Like ''Surfer Rosa'', ''Doolittle'' was acclaimed by fans and music critics alike. ''Doolittle'' was their first album to enter into the ''Billboard'' 200, peaking at 98. In the UK, the album was a commercial success, reaching number 8 in the Albums Chart.

Hiatus (1989–1990)

After ''Doolittle'', tensions between Deal and Francis came to a head (for example, Francis threw a guitar at Deal during a concert in Stuttgart), and Deal was almost fired from the band when she refused to play at a concert in Frankfurt. Santiago, in an interview with '' Mojo'', described Deal as being "headstrong and want ngto include her own songs, to explore her own world" on the band's albums; eventually she accepted that Francis was the singer and had musical control of the band, but after the Frankfurt incident, "they kinda stopped talking". The band became increasingly tired during the post-''Doolittle'' "Fuck or Fight" tour of the United States and fighting among members continued. After the tour's final date in New York City, the band was too exhausted to attend the end-of-tour party the following night and soon announced a hiatus.

During this time, Santiago and Lovering went on vacation while Francis performed a short solo tour, made up of a number of concerts to generate gas money as he traveled across the country. Deal formed a new band, the Breeders, with Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses and bass player Josephine Wiggs of Perfect Disaster. Their debut album, '' Pod'', was released in 1990.

''Bossanova'' and ''Trompe le Monde'' (1990–1992)

In 1990, all members of the group except for Deal moved to Los Angeles. Lovering stated that he, Santiago, and Francis moved there "because the recording studio was there". Unlike previous recordings, the band had little time to practice beforehand, and Black Francis wrote much of the album in the studio. Featuring the singles " Velouria" and " Dig for Fire", '' Bossanova'' reached number 70 in the United States. In contrast, the album peaked at number three in the United Kingdom. Also in 1990, Pixies released a cover of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's "Born in Chicago" on the compilation album '' Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary''.

The band continued to tour and released '' Trompe le Monde'' in 1991, their final album before their break-up. The album included "U-Mass", which has been described as being about college apathy, and whose guitar riff was written years before at the University of Massachusetts before Francis and Santiago dropped out. The album also featured a cover of "Head On" by the Jesus and Mary Chain. Also that year, the band contributed a cover of "I Can't Forget" to the Leonard Cohen tribute album '' I'm Your Fan'', and began an international tour on which they played stadiums in Europe and smaller venues in the United States. They then signed to be the support act of U2 on the lucrative US leg of the Zoo TV Tour in 1992. Tensions rose among band members, and at the end of the year, Pixies went on sabbatical and focused on separate projects.

Breakup and solo projects (1993–2003)

In early 1993, Francis announced in an interview to BBC Radio 5 that Pixies were finished, without however telling the other members of the band. He offered no explanation at the time. He later called Santiago and notified Deal and Lovering via fax.

After the breakup, the members embarked on separate projects. Black Francis renamed himself Frank Black, and released several solo albums, including a string of releases with Frank Black and the Catholics. Deal returned to the Breeders, who scored a hit with " Cannonball" from their platinum-selling '' Last Splash'' in 1993, and released more albums several years later. She also formed the Amps, who released one album.

Santiago played lead guitar on a number of Frank Black albums, as well as on other artists' albums. He wrote music for the television show ''Undeclared'' and theme music for the film '' Crime and Punishment in Suburbia''. He formed the Martinis with his wife Linda Mallari, and released the album '' Smitten'' in 2004. In 2004, he also played lead guitar on the album ''Statecraft'' by the novelist and musician Charles Douglas. Lovering became a magician and performed a style of magic he called "scientific phenomenalism".. He was temporarily a member of the Martinis, and later drummed with the band Cracker.

4AD and Elektra Records continued to release Pixies material: the best-of album '' Death to the Pixies'' (1997), the Peel-session compilation '' Pixies at the BBC'' (1998), and the '' Complete 'B' Sides'' compilation (2001). In 2002, material from Pixies' original 17-track demo tape was released as an EP, '' Pixies'', on Cooking Vinyl in the U.K. and SpinART Records in the U.S.; Black has also used these labels to release solo work and albums with the Catholics.

Reunion (2003–2012)

In the years following Pixies' breakup, Black dismissed rumors of a reunion, but incorporated an increasing number of Pixies songs in his sets with the Catholics, and occasionally included Santiago in his solo work and Lovering's magic show as an opening act to concerts. In 2003, a series of phone calls among band members resulted in some low-key rehearsals, and soon the decision to reunite. By February 2004, a full tour was announced, and tickets for nearly all the initial tour dates sold out within minutes.

Pixies played their first reunion concert on April 13, 2004, at the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A warm-up tour through the U.S. and Canada (in which all dates were recorded and released as individual limited-edition CDs, with some of the performances being released to streaming services in 2021) was followed by an appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The band then spent much of 2004 touring throughout Brazil, Europe, Japan, and the U.S. The group won the Act-of-the-Year award in the 2004 ''Boston Music Awards''. The 2004 reunion tour grossed over $14 million in ticket sales.

In June 2004, the band released a new song, " Bam Thwok" exclusively on the iTunes Music Store; it reached number one in the UK Official Download Chart. 4AD released '' Wave of Mutilation: The Best of Pixies'', along with a companion DVD, ''Pixies''. The band also contributed a rendition of "Ain't That Pretty at All" to the Warren Zevon tribute album '' Enjoy Every Sandwich''.

In 2005, Pixies made appearances at festivals including Lollapalooza, "T on the Fringe", and the Newport Folk Festival. They continued to make appearances through 2006 and 2007, culminating in their first shows in Australia. Francis suggested that a new Pixies studio album was possible, or unlikely, the main obstacle being Deal's reluctance.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of ''Doolittle'', Pixies launched a tour in October 2009 where they performed the album track-for-track, including the associated B-sides. The tour began in Europe, continued in the United States in November, with the South American and Australian tour following in March 2010, then New Zealand, and more European dates in spring 2010, and back to North America in 2010.

Deal's departure and ''Indie Cindy'' (2013–2015)

On June 14, 2013, Pixies announced that Deal had left the band. Two weeks later, the band released a new song, "Bagboy", as a free download via Pixies' website. The song features Jeremy Dubs of Bunnies and formerly of the Bennies on vocals in place of Deal.

On July 1, 2013, Pixies announced the addition of Muffs and Pandoras guitarist and vocalist Kim Shattuck to replace Deal for their 2013 European tour. On September 3, 2013, Pixies released an EP of new songs, '' EP1''. On November 29, 2013, Shattuck announced that she had been dismissed from the band. In December 2013, it was announced that Entrance Band and A Perfect Circle bassist Paz Lenchantin was joining Pixies for the 2014 tour. More new material surfaced when Pixies released their second EP, '' EP2'', on January 3, 2014. The single released to radio was "Blue Eyed Hexe". Another new EP, '' EP3'', was released on March 24, 2014. All the EPs were only available as downloads and limited edition vinyl.

The three EPs were collected in LP format and released as the album, '' Indie Cindy,'' in April 2014. It was the first Pixies album in over two decades. In 2015, Pixies toured in support of Robert Plant for a series of dates across North America.

''Head Carrier'', ''Beneath the Eyrie'', and ''Doggerel'' (2016–present)

In July 2016, Pixies announced that Lenchantin had become a permanent member of the band, and that their sixth album, '' Head Carrier'', would be released on September 30, 2016. Their seventh album, '' Beneath the Eyrie'', was released on September 13, 2019, backed by lead single "On Graveyard Hill". The Pixies released a podcast, ''It's a Pixies Podcast'', documenting the recording of the album. In February 2022, Black Francis revealed that he had written up to forty songs for the band's next studio album. The band released a single, "Human Crime", in March 2022. They released their eighth studio album, '' Doggerel'', with the single "There's a Moon On" on September 30, 2022, via BMG.

Style

Pixies incorporates elements of surf rock and punk rock, with an emphasis on contrasting volume dynamics. '' Spin'' described them as "surf music-meets- Stooges spikiness and oft-imitated stop/start and quiet/loud dynamics". Its music has also been pictured as "an unorthodox marriage of surf music and punk rock, ... characterized by Black's bristling lyrics and hackle-raising caterwaul, Kim Deal's whispered harmonies and waspy basslines, Joey Santiago's fragile guitar, and the persistent flush of David Lovering's drums." The band's music incorporates extreme dynamic shifts; Francis explained in 1991, "Those are the two basic components of rock music ... the dreamy side and the rockin' side. It's always been either sweaty or laid back and cool. We do try to be dynamic, but it's dumbo dynamics, because we don't know how to do anything else. We can play loud or quiet—that's it."

Influences

Pixies is influenced by a range of artists and genres; each member came from a different musical background. When he first started writing songs for Pixies, Francis says he was listening to nothing but Hüsker Dü, Captain Beefheart, and Iggy Pop; whilst in the run up to recording ''Come on Pilgrim'' he listened to R.E.M.'s '' Murmur'' a lot, which he described as "hugely influential" on his songwriting. During the making of ''Doolittle'' he listened heavily to the Beatles' ''White Album''. He has cited Buddy Holly as a model for his compressed songwriting. Francis did not discover punk rock until he was 16, saying "it was good I didn't listen to these hip records". As a child, he listened mainly to 1960s songs, religious music and Emerson Lake and Palmer, ..and Talking Heads

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