One of the best of their post-reformation releases...
"Article published in Clash Magazine. Author: Neve Dawson."
A band forming at college is a tale as old as time. Interpol, Talking Heads, Death Cab for Cutie – the list goes on. It makes sense: Holden Caulfields forming artistic bandits to help navigate first tastes of freedom and underage alcohol. So, when Joey Santiago and Black Francis met at a college in Massachusetts, another band destined for the hall of fame emerged from a scruffy dorm room: PIXIES.
Boasting thirteen tracks, ‘The Night the Zombies Came’, the band’s tenth, flows like a cinematic adaptation of a Gothic novel with its palpable storytelling tinted with dark mysticism. ‘Primrose’ and ‘Mercy Me’ fall into the band’s self-described category of ‘Dust Bowl Songs’, a modern take on the country ballads once cherished by Woody Guthrie. ‘You’re So Impatient’ features the band’s classic sound with needling guitars and the pure, gritty essence of alt-rock, whereas ‘Chicken’ sees Black Francis personify a decapitated chicken in a way that could be the poster track for ‘Meat is Murder’.
While many consider ‘Doolittle’ as the pinnacle of their career, PIXIES demonstrate how a band can conserve their veteran sound while serving it with a twist of originality, and a good helping of imagination. Thus, ‘The Night the Zombies Came’ isn’t an album for the uninspired or your average Joe – it’s a bible for the daydreaming visionary who finds beauty in the mundane.
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