The impact of Boston’s THE PIXIES can not be underestimated.  Their mixture of quiet-loud dynamics, jagged guitars and bizarre lyrics had a titanic impact on grunge, indie and beyond.  For the uninitiated, MATT THROWER looks back on one of the most important bands to emerge from the 1980s.

There are a number of characteristics that define The Pixies. 

Firstly, there’s the unique vocal stylings of singer/guitarist/songwriter Black Francis, born Charles Thompson IV. He’s famous for two voices: the desperate howl and the blood-curdling scream, but he’s also got a tuneful croon, a Lou Reed baritone and a weird falsetto on hand when required. For The Pixies, he wrote lyrics inspired by the bible, violence, warped sexuality, UFOs, science-fiction and the surrealist imagery of David Lynch and Luis Bunuel (the song Debaser name checks the Dali/Bunuel silent classic Un Chien Andalou). Weird stuff, but he could autobiographical too, such as in Crackity Jones, where the line “I’m afraid you’ll cut me, boy” was in reference to a “weird, psychotic, gay roommate” he lived with in Puerto Rico.

Another defining element of The Pixies is the lead guitar work of Joey Santiago, whose anarchic style blended, among other things, surf music and crushing distortion. Behind Francis’ off-kilter voice and Santiago’s inventive six-string, bassist Kim Deal brought a sweeter element to the sound, with her often serene backing vocals, promoted to lead for her compositions Gigantic, Into The White and Bam Thwok.

The Pixies’ recorded output comprised four full-length albums and their debut, a mini-album.

First came 1987’s Come On Pilgrim, originally submitted as an 18-track demo recorded at the famous Fort Apache Studios. Signed to 4AD, the 18 songs were culled to eight, and Come On Pilgrim was born. The trademark Pixies elements are already in place: surreal lyrics, offbeat melodies and Black Francis’ howling vocals.  It also contained permanent live favourites, including Nimrod’s Son, Holiday Song, Caribou and Vamos. 

1988’s Surfer Rosa took the sound to a noisier, rawer level thanks to the involvement of indie kingpin Steve Albini, who turned David Lovering’s drums into Bonham-evoking cannons while Santiago’s guitars were never more ferocious. Yet the melodies were still there, from Francis’ now immortal Where Is My Mind? to Kim Deal’s horny anthem Gigantic.

Gil Norton produced 1989’s Doolittle and the result was a cleaner, crisper album than the two predecessors.  It was also the most stylistically varied of the Pixies’ studio albums, from the throat-shredding Tame to the sunny beat-pop strum of Here Comes Your Man.  It also contained two of Francis’ most enduring anthems, the hollering Debaser and the majestic Monkey Gone To Heaven.

After such an impressive trilogy of records, The Pixies’ final two studio offerings simply don’t have the critic-proof reputation of their predecessors. By 1990’s Bossanova, Black Francis was interested in exploring a more melodic side of the band, which is uncovered in the power-pop of Velouria and Allison, though the wordless screeching of Rock Music shows he wasn’t ready to completely abandon the band’s more abrasive side. It’s an underrated record, enriched by surf-pop touches, including a kick-ass cover of The Surftones’ Cecilia Ann and the Hank Marvin-goes-to-space twang of Ana.

The volume returned for the group’s final studio effort, 1991’s Trompe Le Monde.  Critics balked at the metal riffing present in U-Mass, the rather brutish cover of Jesus And Mary Chain’s Head On and first single Planet Of Sound, and lukewarm reviews ensued.  By anyone else’s standards, though, it’s still a pretty darn good record, boasting the atmospheric tribute to ‘pioneer of aerodynamics’ Alec Eiffel, the short, sweet title track, and the soaring sci-fi pop confection Bird Dream Of The Olympus Mons.

And then?

Disillusioned with Francis’ domination of song writing, Kim Deal continued her side project The Breeders with sister Kelley, hitting big with 1993’s classic The Last Splash.  She later went on to form The Amps. Black Francis changed his stage name to Frank Black and embarked on a long solo career, while Joey Santiago formed The Martinis with his wife Linda Mallari. 

In these intervening years, The Pixies’ were remembered as a truly seminal band, their work celebrated by the likes of Blur, Radiohead and David Bowie, the latter covering Surfer Rosa’s Cactus on his Heathen album.

In April 2004, the original line-up of The Pixies played their first reunion show in Minneapolis and in June of the same year, released a download-only single, the Kim Deal-penned Bam Thwok. The group has made numerous live appearances in the intervening years, including the Lollapalooza, Coachella and Reading Festivals and even an unplugged appearance at the Newport Folk Festival. 

And now, we’re counting down the days to see The Pixies’ headlining appearance at the V Festival.  If you’re going and you’ve never heard The Pixies, I’d recommend you start with Surfer Rosa and Doolittle to hear the band at the psychotic prime. Then prepare to shout along!

The Pixies headline the V Festival at AVICA Resort, Gold Coast on April 1.

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