Within a week of Pixies walking into a Welsh recording studio, founding member bassist and vocalist Kim Deal quit the band. The three remaining members nobly decided to continue writing, recording and producing the first Pixies album of new material of our lifetime.
In October 2012, the three remaining Pixies, session bassists and long-time producer Gil Norton (Doolittle, Bossanova, Trompe Le Monde) recorded the 12 tracks that make up this month’s Indie Cindy.
But what has pushed back the release? Perfecting the cut? Legal battles? Further recording sessions? No.
You may have noticed that since September 2013, Pixies have released a series of three EPs (the originally named EP-1, EP-2 and EP-3). These mini-albums contain all the tracks that are to be collected together as Indie Cindy: no more, no less. One would easily jump to a conclusion of corporate greed, as that would be well founded.
Now to the content of the album itself. It starts strongly with the angry ‘What Goes Boom’, the reflective ‘Greens and Blues’, the biting title song and the lead single ‘Bagboy’. They carry the classic Pixies’ sound; near-tortured wails and emotional whispering, both reflected in the tone of the alternative-rock riffs that Black Francis et al pioneered in the 80s. These tracks are certainly among Pixies’ best recordings.
CORPORATE?: Fans have questioned Pixies’ release method of ‘Indie Cindy’ (l-r) Black Francis, David Lovering, Joey Santiago – photo (c) Spin
Unfortunately, the album goes downhill from there on out. Never particularly bad, but not maintaining the same standard as the opening tracks. ‘Magdalena 318’ is calm, composed and dull. Fine, if you need to relax after ‘Indie Cindy’, but not really needed this early in the album. ‘Silver Snail’ extends the calm, bringing in a more psychedelic feel that – admittedly – flows well.
‘Blue Eyed Hexe’ brings the aggression back with a feedback-laden riff kicking things off again before being immediately dropped for the surprisingly cheery – and subsequently weak – ‘Ring The Bell’. The final tracks average each other off at a respectable “good”, the last one featuring trademark use of spoken Spanish.
Indie Cindy is a very good album let down by a few songs and – critically – the decision at a (hopefully) solely executive level to release all the tracks in 3 EPs beforehand.
If you have a couple more minutes to spare, why not check out some of our past content?
