Pixies – Head Carrier (2016)

Final purchase from the bloke at the boot fair a couple of weeks ago was this 2016 release from the reformed Pixies, an album I wasn't previously aware of, let alone familiar with.

I was unsure what to expect, but I've been pleasantly surprised, and after a couple of listenings, it's grown on me. Openers Head Carrier and Classic Masher are solid slower rocking songs, both sounding great, and it's not until Baal's Back that the mood gets darker and angrier. Might As Well Be Gone is slower and more pedestrian, followed by Oona - again listenable, but not the most exciting.

The high point of the album, for me, follows with the fantastic Talent, a solid, easy to listen to, yet impactful song, followed by Tenement Song, slower but a decent couple of minutes. Next comes the pleasant Bel Esprit, then All I Think About Now, which opens with the guitar riff of a much more famous Pixies song that I'm struggling to place (after a little break, it's Where Is My Mind).

The final three tracks bounce through quickly, the raucous Um Chagga Lagga, the poppy and enjoyable Plaster Of Paris, and the finale, the understated and plodding All The Saints.

It's a good album, and one which offers some hope for the reformed Pixies, although reviews of this and other 21st century albums are very mixed. But it's enjoyable, without threatening the supremacy of their four albums from the first incarnation of the band

Link to album tracks

3* - a pretty good Pixies album, but not one of the greats