Album Cover - Beneath The Eyrie
I was a teenager when I heard my first Pixies song Gigantic from the album “Sufer Rosa”, a friend let me hear it through one half of a shared set of earbuds accompanied by an also shared two litre bottle of cider and a definitely shared feeling of teenage ennui. Sitting on a park bench under the influence with one half of a stereo recording probably isn’t the pre-eminent manner to discover a band but it piqued my interest enough to risk the file-sharing wild west that was Limewire and from there I managed to get my hands on the album “Doolittle”.
It may’ve been due to starting with arguable the bands best album (one of rock music’s best albums) or simply that “Doolittle” struck a chord with me at that period of my life but I could never get into previous or subsequent Pixies’ albums in quite the same way, with that Caveat in place I’ll get to the actual review.
“Beneath The Eyrie” is an incredibly enjoyable album...but… I feel I’m enjoying it as a Tom Waits or Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds fan rather than a Pixies fan, This Is My Fate feeling particularly Tom Waits like.
Whether through a natural change over time or creative choice Black Francis’ doesn’t have the rough screams I know and love from Debaser or the high intensity of Crackity Jones. Don’t get me wrong the vocal performance and lyrics are excellent throughout the album from both Black Francis and Paz Lenchantin, interesting story telling verses and infectious melodic choruses the single Catfish Kate is a prime example of this.
Joey Santiago’s guitar playing is wonderful through out the whole album managing to be striking and dissonant yet sit in the song arrangements perfectly adding harmonic texture, the playing in Birds of Prey and Long Rider being a particular highlight for me.
The rhythm section of Paz Lenchantin on bass and David Lovering on drums is rock solid delivering a somewhat swing feel with tight punctuation when needed, their locked in gallop style playing lending a feeling of drive to the opening track of In The Arms Of Mrs. Mark Of Cain.
It only occurred to me after a few listens to the album that despite the smoother vocals, higher production value, and longer track lengths that “Beneath The Eyrie” is musically a return to the weird genre mix of folk-blues, western, and psychobilly packaged as alt-rock (Listen to Nimrod’s Son and Vamos to hear what I mean) that the mini album “Come On Pilgrim” encapsulated.
Once I realised this “Beneath The Eyrie” becomes an album that feels like a return to roots but through a kaleidoscope of age and experience. There’s a song writing and musically maturity to this latest release, it’s not “Doolittle” and neither it should be, for the same reason you won’t find me drinking cider on a park bench anymore, we’ve both grown up.
“Beneath The Eyrie” is released Friday 13th September.
TL;DR
Artist/band: Pixies
Record: Beneath The Eyrie
Genre: Alt-Rock
Choice Track: St. Nazaire
Listen if you like: Pixies, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Genre Mixing, Alt-Rock, Alt-Folk.
Would your mum like it: If she’s ever owned fishnet tights, she’ll like this album.
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