Pixies "Indie Cindy" 2014***

Backpackers in Luxembourg? Must have gotten lost

The Palace of Grand Duke Henri

My, this is going to be long intro. But I couldn't resist the urge to comment the fact I'm finishing this review from a hotel room at Luxembourg City in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Because, let's face it, how often does one find himself in a Grand Duchy? Or even a regular Duchy? Sure, there was a time when Europe was full of them, you could find ballrooms full of Dukes and Duchesses and even Grand Dukes and Archdukes - but they've all been absorbed by boring Republics. All, that is, except Luxembourg - presumably because people forgot it existed until it became a founding member of the European Union, by which time it was too late to annex it into any of the bigger states. The existence of EU Institutions seems to account for most of the visitors here, as there don't seem to be many tourist attractions. Not that it's ugly or anything, far from it. The mountain scenery is pretty and the city is as old and rich as the term Grand Duchy implies, but there aren't any features exclusive to it that you can't find in many other Central European cities - except, that is, if you're fascinated with the anachronism (and slight ridiculousness) of the term Grand Duchy - you can tell I am,  because I keep repeating it and placing the word in italics. Another one is obviously Frank Black (aka Black Francis) who named one of his bands Grand Duchy. It'd be fun if I had their CD and was able to present it here, buy I don't. Instead I'll present the latest Pixies album, right after another short story (let's call it a flashback, just like in the movies) about their first gig in Athens, Greece.

  

It was 1989 when the Pixies played Athens for the first time. For once I don't have to google the exact date: It was Saturday, May 20 - and I wasn't there. I was at the Peinaleon tavern in Exarchia. It was the eve of St. Constantine's day, and -as is traditional in Greece- people named after the Saint throw a party in celebration. So I (Kostas is short for Constantine) and my girlfriend at the time, Constantina, invited our friends out for mezedes (tapas) and drinks. It was a merry occasion, friends brought their instruments (guitars and bouzouki) and we sang, ate and drank until closing time. One guest arrived after midnight - let's call her Ziggy, her nickname at the time. She sat herself next to me and proceeded to tell me how unlucky I'd been to miss that night's concert. She said that I wasn't the bouzouki type and that I should have gone with her to Rodon instead celebrating at the tavern with my girlfriend Well, she was never a subtle one but she had a point: I soon became a big Pixies fan and was tremendously disappointed when they broke up in 1993. I thought I had missed my only chance to see them live. Thankfully they reformed after 10 years and in 2004 they played the Rockwave festival in Athens. They gave a great performance, but were they authentic or were they just going through the motions? Were they as good as in their prime? Was Ziggy right when she raved about their performance that night? Judge for yourselves: that concert was recorded for the public television channel and is now out on youtube.

In any case the Pixies reformation gave (tens of) thousands of fans a chance to see them live, for which we are grateful. But was their heart really in it or were they just filling their pockets so that they could go on with their other projects? The lack of new material in their second incarnation pointed to the latter. Then, in 2012-13 a few new EP's appeared, collected here in the form of full length CD. They were only recorded after Kim Deal left the band, which begs the question of whether this is even a Pixies album at all or rather a Frank Black album featuring Joey Santiago on guitar and David Lovering on drums. Given that this isn't the first time a band loses an important member, one has to focus on the music and ask whether it is a natural progression from their last outing, 1991's "Trompe le Monde". First of all, and rather predictably, Kim's absence shows. Her bass and, especially, backing vocals are sorely missed. More importantly, what's missing is Frank's counterpoint, a co-leader to counterbalance his influence. No offence to the other guys, but Santiago had played guitar in FB's solo albums, so it was probably natural for him to take a back seat here. As for Lovering, he had abandoned music altogether for a career as a magician. One cannot expect much creative input from him. Not to mention that he's the drummer - case closed! On the other hand, these are recognisably the Pixies; All the markings are present: the abrasive guitars, the shouts and shrieks, the surrealistic lyrics, that loud-quiet-loud dynamic that Nirvana so heavily copied.

Indie Cindy: the carton CD case, unfolded.

Yet, there are differences: e.g. "What Goes Boom"'s metallic riffs could have used Kim's feminine touch to balance them out. Santiago's guitar, though thoroughly enjoyable, is a tad too macho all around, edging the band a couple of inches towards classic rock territory. Not so in "Greens and Blues", which could have come out of the band's masterpiece "Doolittle" - with its acoustic/electric guitar interplay, it sounds like "Wave of Mutilation"s bigger brother. "Indie Cindy" the song has a schizophrenic feel, with FB alternately pleading sweetly for love and spouting aggressive nonsense lines like "I’m the burgermeister of Purgatory''. The speak/singing style he employs here is an old trick of his, probably one he copied in turn from The Fall's Mark E. Smith. He also uses it on the next track, lead single "Bagboy". It's the one song that sounds completely new and different from both Pixies and Frank Black's solo records. Starting off with a drum machine beat, it features heavy Zeppelin-ish guitars, call-and-response vocals that remind me of Nick Cave's Grinderman, and a Kim impersonator chanting the song's title. This must be what they mean with the phrase everything but the kitchen sink - shouldn't work but it kinda does."Magdalena 318" with its melodic sci-fi keyboards and vocals is a mid-tempo throwback to the Pixies' classic sound circa "Bossanova", while the slow psychedelic "Silver Snail" creates an unwarranted lull in the middle of the album. Maybe as last track of side 1 it could be forgiven, but it has no business being in the middle of the album. It's followed by one of the album's most upbeat numbers: "Blue Eyed Hexe", with heavy-funk guitars of the Black Keys/White Stripes school and screaming vocals. "Andro Queen"is a folk-ish ballad about extraterrestrial love, while "Snakes" and  "Jaime Bravo" have the typical Pixies sound but are otherwise uninspired - the former's surf-metal guitar and latter's backing vocals offer only a slight saving grace. All in all, and to answer the question I posed at the beginning of the review, yes we can safely consider this a genuine Pixies album, but there's no getting around the fact that it's the lowpoint of their discography. Maybe we should just content ourselves with the fact that they still exist, take their albums for what they are and not expect them to equal the masterpieces of their youth - after all, who can? 

***** for Greens and Blues

**** for Bagboy, Magdalena 318, Blue Eyed Hexe

*** for What Goes Boom, Indie Cindy, Ring the Bell, Andro Queen, Snakes

** for Silver Snail, Another Toe in the Ocean, Jaime Bravo