The originals are back.

[The Curmudgeon]

A few years ago, the Pixies returned to the public eye, re-uniting to a generation of fans who'd grew up with only the records to go by. Spurned on by a love of Nirvana, they'd heard of the Pixies through Cobain, NME and the internet but of course, the Pixies had long since split up before they could get any sort of mainstream recognition. So when they returned to a heroes welcome, all was right with the world.

And even though they lacked a certain spark the two times I saw them, there was no denying that hearing THOSE fucking songs was nothing more than life-affirming. Saying that, it'd be nice to see them bring out some new music and not just coast on Where Is My Mind forever.

They released one song, the amazingly titled Bam Thwock, and it was great (even if it was originally intended for the soundtrack to Shrek 2, thank God that didn't happen). That was almost ten years ago.

Now, the Pixies are BACK, baby. Armed with five new songs, in fact, a one track single and a whole four track EP (called EP 1, hinting at further releases). So, what are the songs like? Is the magic still there?

Judge for yourselves, friends.

[trashcanman]

I'm the burgermeister of burger toys? Well why the fuck not? The melodic parts are wonderful; that's for sure. I can take or leave the weird spoken word stuff, though. It sounds like stuff I've heard before. Welcome back, guys. I'm sorry Kim Deal was such a dope and held you back for two fucking decades and you're just now getting it together, and I'm sorry it took you that long to decide to replace her.

[The Curmudgeon]

I think the problem with the Pixies is that every decent band in the last 20 years has stolen from them, so when the actual band make new music its probably going to sound like something you've heard before. So if Frank Black etc DID try and do something new it would be in danger of alienating the fans because, well, it doesn't sound like the Pixies.

We're super excited right now in the Curmudgeon household, because the Pixies are playing the Barrowlands, AKA Best Venue in Scotland, and tickets sold out in about an hour - Mrs C managed to get two.

So was the whole problem with Kim? I haven't read much about their issues, what happened?

[trashcanman]

She is no longer a part of that band as of June. My understanding (based partially on the reunion documentary "loudQUIETloud") is that Deal pretty much could give a shit about The Pixies and just wanted nothing to do with the whole thing, which is why they could hardly ever get together. I don't know how big a part of the creative process she was, but Francis has pretty much said it's just been a constant wait for Deal to agree to work with them.

I also got the impression from the doc that her voice is pretty much ruined by the insane volume of cigarettes she smokes. Did she sound alright to you when you saw them live? Did she sing any lead? Anyways, they've replaced her with a woman from another band, so get ready for a new face when you see them.