At first, I wasn’t really in the mood to listen to the Pixies’ new album, Head Carrier. But then I got in the mood and the album was pretty enjoyable, and kind of odd. “Here’s a band I haven’t really listened to in a while,” I said to myself as I reclined back to listen to 34 minutes of music by the band who influenced so many of the musicians I’ve liked. Although I never listened to much of the Pixies’ earlier stuff, I could hear a lot of what is often attributed to the Pixies in their own music. Their sound is caught in a transition between genres. Songs “Um Chagga Lagga” and “Baal’s Back” carry some indifferent punk energy and it’s all definitely alternative in nature; there are plenty of surf and garage rock elements in songs like “Oona” to remain within the genre that they helped create. Spiffy guitar sounds make up a lot of each song, and while the lyrics are nothing to be excited about, there are lyrics. The album isn’t anything new or unique, but the band may have managed to time an album well. For some younger listeners, in Head Carrier they may find a lot of the elements that they like about so many of the indie bands who are currently popular. Head Carrier sounds like an opportunity to find new fans in an era populated by bands whose path was forged by the Pixies. It sounds like the Pixies to me — maybe a bit too self-plagiaristic — but it suits a lot of today’s indie / alternative music.
Soundbite: Pixies
This article was published on October 22, 2016 and may be out of date. To maintain our historical record, The Cascade does not update or remove outdated articles.
