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About
Pixies are an American alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Boston, Massachusetts. The original lineup comprised Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, backing vocals) and David Lovering (drums). The band disbanded acrimoniously in 1993, but reunited in 2004. After Deal left in 2013, Pixies hired Kim Shattuck as a touring bassist; she was replaced the same year by Paz Lenchantin, who became a permanent member in 2016.
Pixies are associated with the 1990s alternative rock boom, and draw on elements including punk rock and surf rock. Their music is known for its dynamic "loud-quiet" shifts and song structures. Francis is Pixies' primary songwriter; his often surreal lyrics cover offbeat subjects such as extraterrestrials, incest, and biblical violence. They achieved modest popularity in the US, but were more successful in Europe. Their jarring pop sound influenced acts such as Nirvana, Radiohead, the Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. Their popularity grew in the years after their break-up, leading to sold-out world tours following their reunion in 2004.
Style
Spin magazine described Pixies' musical style as "Surf music-meets-Stooges spikiness and oft-imitated stop/start and quiet/loud dynamics". Their music has also been pictured as "an unorthodox marriage of surf music and punk rock, ... characterized by Black's bristling lyrics and hackle-raising caterwaul, Kim Deal's whispered harmonies and waspy basslines, Joey Santiago's fragile guitar, and the persistent flush of David Lovering's drums." The band's music incorporates extreme dynamic shifts; Francis explained in 1991, "Those are the two basic components of rock music ... the dreamy side and the rockin' side. It's always been either sweaty or laid back and cool. We do try to be dynamic, but it's dumbo dynamics, because we don't know how to do anything else. We can play loud or quiet—that's it".
Influences
Pixies are influenced by a range of artists and genres; each member came from a different musical background. When he first started writing songs for Pixies, Francis says he was listening to nothing but Hüsker Dü, Captain Beefheart, and Iggy Pop; During the making of Doolittle he listened heavily to the Beatles' White Album. He has cited Buddy Holly as a model for his compressed songwriting. Francis did not discover punk rock until he was 16, saying "it was good I didn't listen to these hip records". As a child, he listened mainly to 1960s songs, religious music and Emerson Lake and Palmer, then Iggy Pop, Husker Du, Captain Beefheart and Talking Heads, who he says "weren't punk either".
Santiago listened to 1970s and 1980s punk including Black Flag, as well as David Bowie and T. Rex. Guitarists who influenced him include Jimi Hendrix, Les Paul, Wes Montgomery, and George Harrison. Deal's musical background was folk music and country; she had formed a country-folk band with her sister in her teenage years, and played covers of artists such as The Everly Brothers and Hank Williams. Other artists Deal listened to included XTC, Gang of Four and Elvis Costello. Lovering is a fan of the band Rush.
Other media such as film has influenced Pixies; Francis cites surrealist films Eraserhead and Un chien andalou (as mentioned in "Debaser") as influences. He has commented on these influences, saying he "didn't have the patience to sit around reading Surrealist novels", but found it easier to watch twenty-minute films.
Songwriting and vocals
Most of Pixies' songs are composed and sung by Francis. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine has described Francis's writing as containing "bizarre, fragmented lyrics about space, religion, sex, mutilation, and pop culture". Biblical violence is a theme of Doolittle's "Dead" and "Gouge Away"; Francis told a Melody Maker interviewer, "It's all those characters in the Old Testament. I'm obsessed with them. Why it comes out so much I don't know." He has described Come on Pilgrim's "Caribou" as being about reincarnation, and extraterrestrial themes appear in a number of songs on Bossanova.
Deal co-wrote Doolittle's "Silver" with Francis, and they share lead harmony vocals on the track. She also co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Surfer Rosa's "Gigantic", and is the sole songwriter of the 2004 digital single "Bam Thwok". She was credited as Mrs. John Murphy on the former composition — at the time she was married, and she used this name as an ironic feminist joke. She also sang lead vocals on the song "Into the White" and the Neil Young cover "Winterlong", which were both B-sides. Lovering sang lead vocals on Doolittle's "La La Love You" and the B-side "Make Believe". Most recently, Lenchantin made her lead vocal debut on Head Carrier's "All I Think About Now." She also provided lead vocals on "Los Surfers Muertos," from 2019's Beneath the Eyrie.