Sad They’re Gone: The Pixies
Sadly, I was born a few years too late to see The Pixies play live the first time around; while Kim Deal, Joey Santiago, Charles Thompson and David Lovering were out there blowing minds with their progressive, mind-bendingly strange rock songs, I thought Chesney Hawkes was actually pretty damn cool. It wasn’t until The Pixies and Nirvana had been replaced by Radiohead and Muse—not really an equal replacement by any means, it has to be said—that I owned all their albums. I can remember listening to ‘Bone Machine’ for the first time and being completely confused as to what was coming out of the speakers; then the pieces fell into position and something snapped inside my head. From that moment on I listened to The Pixies at every opportunity; every album, even ‘Trompe Le Monde’—the least popular of all their works.
Much has been made of The Pixies going downhill towards the end of the career, but focusing on that seems unfair, I think—the band were only around for a short time and produced more quality songs than most groups do in twenty year careers. Not only that, they were the reason many bands of today even exist. Had The Pixies not came to be, I doubt we’d be where we are today. Music just wouldn’t have been the same without them.
The Pixies would, of course, not have been the same without Kim Deal. Widely thought of as one of the best female vocalists to have ever recorded, Kim could hold it down all on her own or step back and let Charles Thompson scream his head off; best known for his ability to mix disturbing lyrics into songs that fracture, fall apart and then explode like breaking glass, Thompson was an unlikely front-man if ever there was one, and as a result a breathe of fresh air during an era of silly named rock groups which came and went with barely any impact.
Really exciting news about the new band, I just talked to this great company who agreed to give us a sweet deal on the CD packaging, look at thier site and see what you think!