PLANET OF SOUND

BLACK FRANCIS ON HARNESSING THAT MAGIC PIXIES DUST

- by MIKE METTLER

IF THERE'S ONE WORD THAT BEST describes the sound of the Boston-bred alt-rock quartet known as Pixies, it has to be “dy-namics.” It’s a musical milieu Pixies have deftly presented for 37 years and counting, right from the outset of the sinister janglefest known as “Caribou,” the opening track on their inaugural September 1987 EP on 4AD, Come On Pilgrim.

From there, short, sanguine, sweet, succinctly titled songs like “Debaser,” “Velouria,” “Monkey Gone to Heaven,” “Gigantic,” “Here Comes Your Man,” “Gouge Away,” and “Where Is My Mind?” have all served to cement the bedrock of Pixies’ planet of sound. Chief Pix-ies songwriter and vocalist/guitarist Black Francis—born Charles Thompson—recently described it in an interview for Stereophile as this: “Let’s be quiet. Now, let’s be loud. Let’s be whispering. Now, let’s be explosive.” That’s a precise four-sentence descriptor not only of their entire prior CV but also of Pixies’ latest, and ninth studio album, the forebodingly titled The Night the Zombies Came, which was released by BMG in October 2024. From the patented churn of “You’re So Impatient” to the clever sestina¹ stylings of “Hypnotized” to the Leonard Cohen-esque huskiness of “Mercy Me,” it’s pure Pixies sonic manna to the nth degree, as delivered by Francis and his longtime bandmates, guitarist Joey Santiago and drummer David Lovering, along with new bassist/backing vocalist Emma Thompson.

Helping harness that Pixies sound elixir for 21st century listeners is British producer/ mixer Tom Dalgety (Royal Blood, Ghost). Dalgety first got behind the Pixies production boards for Head Carrier, the band’s 2016 album on Pixies Music that followed the brief reunion with their core ‘80s/’90s producer Gil Norton on 2014’s