Description
As fired up as ever before, Pixies release their eighth studio album lsquoDoggerelrsquo via BMG.lsquoDoggerelrsquo is a mature yet visceral record of gruesome folk, ballroom pop and brutal rock, haunted by the ghosts of affairs and indulgences, driven wild by cosmic forces and envisioning digital afterlives where no God has provided one. And all the while, right there on the news, another distant storm approaches.Guitarist Joey Santiago says, ldquoThis time around we have grown. We no longer have under twominute songs. We have little breaks, more conventional arrangements but still our twists in there.rdquoVocalistguitarist Black Francis adds, ldquoWere trying to do things that are very big and bold and orchestrated. The punky stuff, I really like playing it but you just cannot artificially create that shit. Theres another way to do this, theres other things we can do with this extra special energy that were encountering.rdquoThat energy shimmers in the albumrsquos new single lsquoTherersquos A Moon Onrsquo, which fits into the space between prototype squalling Pixies guitars and heartland rock classicism. Thematically it plays somewhere between fact and legend, playing upon the adrenalizing effect of the lunar cycle on the human psyche, a phase during which the drunks in Francisrsquos brotherrsquos bar become more aggressive.A congregation between darkness and beauty consistently emerges throughout the record. Therersquos lsquoHaunted Housersquo, a spirited concoction of lsquo50sflavoured pop with ghosts both literal and metaphoric, as well as the brooding Morricone desert rock of lsquoVault of Heavenrsquo, and a breezy folkrock melody on lsquoPagan Manrsquo. But Pixies still possesses a ferocious edge, one that feeds into the grinding intensity and surrealism of lsquoNomatterdayrsquo and The Wholike power of lsquoDregs of the Winersquo, which will surely be the first and last Pixies song to namecheck Van Halen.Itrsquos a record with an unusual genesis. Instead of building upon rough ideas in the studio, Black Francis turned up to sessions with 40 songs prepared. Sessions started late in 2021 with producer Tom Dalgety Royal Blood, Ghost working with Francis in Massachusetts, before they headed to LA to finish tracks with the rest of the band.Their input would be vital. Santiago contributed his first two Pixies songwriting credits, with music for lsquoDregs of the Winersquo and lyrics for lsquoDoggerelrsquo. Meanwhile, drummer David Lovering and bassist Paz Lenchantinrsquos performances have the uninhibited energy of two musicians who both confess to feeling reinvigorated by the process.
