5 things to know about Beneath the Eyrie by Pixies

September 10, 2019 admin music, music reviews, vancouver music

Credit to Author: Stuart Derdeyn| Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2019 18:09:19 +0000

Pixies | BMG

Boston band Pixies has seen its fortunes rise considerably in recent years.

Beloved among mid-’80s indie rock fans for genius albums like Surfer Rosa and spinoff projects such as the Breeders, the group disbanded in 1993 before it really achieved the commercial returns it so rightfully deserved and members pursued solo projects with varying degrees of success.

Reunited in 2004 with all the original members, the timing couldn’t have been better.

Original fans and an entire new generation interested in yesterday’s classic rock were pumped to hear tunes such as Wave of Mutilation, Planet of Sound or Bone Machine played live. Always more popular in Europe, the first reunion tour broke a sales record for its four-night run at London’s celebrated Brixton Academy.

Bassist Kim Deal departed in 2013, citing commitments with the Breeders making continuing on too challenging. A Perfect Circle’s Paz Lanchantin was hired on as new bassist and band member for the 2014 tour.

Following on 2016’s Head Carrier, Beneath the Eyrie is the second new full-length album from the band since reforming. There were also two shorter recordings, titled EP1 and EP2, which came out in 2013-14.

Here are five things to know about the new album:

1. Super clean sound

Classic Pixies’ recordings were noisy affairs fitting the band’s surf music-meets-Iggy and the Stooges approach.

The albums were awash in feedback, reverberating vocals and a kind of wall of sound approach to record making. Such is not the case with the dozen new songs on Beneath the Eyrie.

The sharp separation between each instrument — check out the rhythm track clicks in the first 20 seconds of the opening song In the Arms of Mrs. Mark of Cain — is absolute. Lanchantin’s backing vocals are less upfront than Deal’s ever were, but her voice is a more classic one. All of this ramps up the melodic flow and sort of means a new sound moving forward.

2. On Graveyard Hill

The leadoff single packs classic Pixies’ slightly tense and freaked-out lyrical content with excellent duelling guitars from lead singer Black Francis and lead guitarist Joey Santiago, while drummer David Lovering and Lanchantin pound away.

Co-written by Francis and Lanchantin, the chorus is arena big, and you can instantly sense this is a killer live tune.

3. This Is My Fate

One of the best tracks on the album is this off-kilter hybrid of a blues shuffle with some country tinges. Black Francis has found some deeper ranges in his voice and the way he sing/speaks the song totally works. Plus, Lovering is clearly loving all the cowbell riffs he gets to toss into the arrangement as a kind of sonic punctuation. The psychedelic ending with a distant gong is pretty cool.

4. A cast of characters

From Los Surfers Muertos to Daniel Boone, Catfish Kate and the punk-as-can-be St. Nazaire, the songs on Beneath the Eyrie tell tales of oddballs, misfits and anti-heroes with a confident swagger that comes with being a veteran songwriter like Black Francis. His lyrics are less obscure and free-flowing as they once were, adapting a more narrative line. It works.

5. Packaging push

The band is clearly committed to making new albums and exploring the potential of having a musician of Lanchantin’s stature in its ranks. But Pixies also understands that it may be difficult to get airplay for the singles and keeping or growing its fan base means building a more grassroots level buzz.

To that end, the press material notes a number of deluxe packages for the new album, ranging from heavyweight single gatefold black vinyl to a deluxe box set including nine unreleased demos recorded during the past year.

Also released this week:

Breadcrumbs EP | earMUSIC

“Me and Iggy were gigging with Ziggy/Kickin’ with the MC5/Ted and Seeger were burning with a fever/And Suzi Q was sharp as a knife.”

So opens Detroit City 2020, the first of six new songs on Cooper’s homage to his hometown’s rock ‘n’ roll credentials. It sounds like vintage Alice from start to finish, ranging from the classic punk of Go Man Go to the sharp horn-driven funk of Your Mama Won’t Like Me. Easily the best thing he has released since the ’70s.

Cover Your Tracks EP | New West Records

Cover albums usually come along as stop gaps between records or as a contractual obligation. Very rarely, a covers project is something genius such as Hal Willner’s Disney project Stay Awake.

This eight-track release from Alberta country act Corb Lund is not one of those, instead it’s one of those straight-up takes on tired out classics EPs that smells of record execs hoping for radio play.

Seriously, the selection includes songs such as These Boots Are Made For Walkin’, The Cover of the Rolling Stone, I Shall Be Released, Seven Spanish Angels and It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me. The version of AC/DC’s Ride On is cool.

Pang! | Rough Trade

The team of Welsh art rocker Rhys and South African electronic producer/musician Muzi is easily one of most standout recordings of the Super Furry Animals’ frontperson.

The title track is a hard-grooving but folky bit of non-traditional instrumentation that packs more ideas into its 2:48 length than the majority of albums will ever manage. As ever, performed in the singsong Welsh language, it’s like Rhys and Muzi have hit upon a Pembrokeshire township jazz-folk hybrid that somehow manages to evoke everything from Hugh Masekela and Incredible String Band to — weirdly — the Brazilian Tropicalismo movement of the ’70s.

Bae Bae Bae could have come off of a Caetano Veloso/Gilberto Gil album.

Baby Blue EP | Audiofemme

Vancouver siblings Elle and Avery O’Brien are Harlequin Gold. Coming together to make art following a family tragedy, the duo is rounded out by producer/guitarist Justice McLellan and drummer Jamieson Ko on its four-song record.

It’s an impressive effort with songs ranging from the Coldplay-ish opener Baby Blue to the joyful New Wave pulse of Take Me Home, and all of them are unified around the intertwined harmonies of the siblings. With people who have worked with artists ranging from The Killers and Dan Mangan to Paul McCartney, it’s not surprising this is super polished and lives up to all of its potential.

Saturday, Sept. 14, Rickshaw Theatre, $26 at eventbrite.ca