New studio album

Pixies: Late peace leads to strong songs

Today they can casually hang out and enjoy themselves - 30 years ago, the kettle would have quickly boiled over: indie rock heroes Pixies.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/BMG, Travis Shinn)

20 years after the reunion, ten years after the comeback album and six months after the integration of bassist Emma Richardson, the former indie rock heroes Pixies are late to the forefront of their own creativity. Guitarist Joey Santiago looked back on the less peaceful times in the "Krone" talk.

Sometimes dreams come true, even if you have to deviate a little from their basic direction. Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago has had the grand vision of composing a movie soundtrack for some time now. "The sound should be so good that you immediately have the movie in mind without actually seeing it," he tells the "Krone" in an interview. Although "The Night The Zombies Came" is "only" the tenth studio album by his cult band and not a real film soundtrack, the cinematic approach and the connection between the individual songs make the tenth work by the quartet from Boston more cinematic than any album before it. 20 years after the Pixies' comeback, Black Francis and Co. are almost as well calibrated as they were in their heyday. The 13 new songs are not conceptual and certainly have nothing to do with the simply cool-sounding album title, but they impressively prove that guitar music by established musicians can still work in 2024.

Friction to the point of implosion
A brief look back: The Pixies' first career phase was short. Between 1986 and 1993, Francis and co. pressed five studio albums from their artificial bodies; "Surfer Rosa" (1988) and "Doolittle" (1989) were to become legendary excerpts in the indie rock world. The dreamy cult piece "Where Is My Mind?" was to become a cult piece more than a decade after its creation through its use in the film "Fight Club" (1999) - since then, the Pixies have also been a household name in the mainstream. Despite all the great music, there were always frictions, disagreements and fights within the band. Until the implosion was inevitable. Black Francis publicly quit the band and only later informed his former comrades-in-arms by fax. After various solo projects, there was a good decade of reinvention, but it was to take another ten years until the album "Indie Cindy". By then, in 2014, bassist and fan favorite Kim Deal had already been replaced by Paz Lenchantin.

Over time, the remaining band members revised the idea that the door was always open for Deal, who had left herself. It would not be fair to the new bassist Paz Lenchantin if the looming sword of Damocles "personnel change" continued to hang over her. This relationship also ended a few months ago. Just as cryptically as the band broke up two decades earlier: Lenchantin would not have known about it and would have been surprised. Black Francis naturally sees things differently. For the past six months, the Brit Emma Richardson has been playing the four-string, who has been given a considerable leap of faith and on "The Night The Zombies Came" not only warbles in the background, but is also allowed to take over the main vocals from time to time. Whether Francis was just about to turn 60 and his old age got the better of him or he simply listened carefully and justifiably trusted her - that's a matter of course. Let's just be happy that this is the case now.

Colleagues and friends
The new album is also the best musically since the 90s. Over the last ten years and five studio albums, the Pixies have grooved together better and better, which was not necessarily to be expected at the beginning. "The important thing is that we all get along very well," Santiago emphasizes the new domestic peace, "today we can distinguish between work and private life much better. Sometimes we are colleagues, but sometimes we are also friends. When it comes to business matters, we talk about them very seriously. But if we just meet for dinner, business has no place. We're all having fun again and that's fundamental to keeping the band alive. Black Francis would be the first to leave immediately if we weren't doing as well as we are at the moment."

Santiago has mixed feelings about the wild years of his youth. "When the band broke up, we were young, egotistical and not very strong-nerved. We felt indestructible, but then we exploded. If someone in the band is going through a difficult time or has personal problems, we talk about it openly. We listen and try to support each other, which certainly wasn't always the case in the past. The respect for each other was always there, but we didn't lay our cards on the table so openly. Back then, we swept a lot of dirt under the carpet and it was noticeable that we would run out of steam at some point. Today, we discuss things much more and sometimes we give in because it serves the greater good. You can only change a lot of things by putting yourself on the back burner."

Tour without Austria
The fact that some long-established fans have their problems with the slightly adapted Pixies incarnation only annoys Santiago from one perspective. "When you try something new and people complain before they've heard or seen anything, it makes me angry. Everyone deserves their chance before being criticized. It's like not liking the unborn baby of a pregnant woman. Why would you do that? You don't even know the damn baby yet to be able to judge." According to the Pixies, they can currently choose from around 90 songs for a live show. With the high quality on "The Night The Zombies Came", they can now increase this to a three-digit number for the first time. This will please all those who can see the Pixies live on their big tour in 2025. Austria is not one of these countries. Black Francis and co. sail purposefully past our national borders ....