Some Say I’ve Never Lived But I Know I’m Alive

Pixies “Get Stimulated”

There are now four post-reunion Pixies albums and it still feels weird. It’s no secret that these records are a matter of practicality – Black Francis is a prolific songwriter and obviously his records will sell better if they’re called Pixies, and if he’s always playing with the Pixies anyway why not just record with them and use the name? It’s all very logical, the math checks out. Black Francis still sounds like Black Francis, the music is full of their signature moves, and Paz Lenchantin does as good a job as anyone could hope to filling in on Kim Deal’s role in the band. Time is the enemy in this situation – too much time since they wrote the original body of work and were tapped into something truly inspired and original; too much time with Black Francis piling up solo records that gave us a sense of what he’s like without the Pixies. These are records that would be considered above-average Black Francis solo albums, but the baggage of the Pixies name makes them feel disappointing, ill-advised, or even sacrilegious.

At this point the most fair way to approach these records is considering them a separate body of work by a different band. Kim Deal was an essential and defining part of Pixies and she’s not on these records, that’s enough of a shift in the basic dynamics to look at this as something else entirely. So what is this band? Well, it’s Black Francis doing the fully matured version of his aesthetic and working with a drummer and lead guitarist he has proven chemistry with, and Paz Lenchantin bringing a similar but slightly different feminine energy to the mix. She’s more ethereal than girl-next-door, her bass playing simultaneously more blunt and more refined. She doesn’t have a level of charisma that competes with Black Francis, and that changes the feel of the songs – “Get Stimulated” is a good example of how well his voice meshes and contrasts with a softer feminine vocal, but you do get the sense that if Kim was the one singing your ear would focus on her presence. But it’s also a good example of something that feels uniquely Pixies with or without Deal, and the song is strong enough that it feels silly to not open up to it because of a concern like “oh no what about your legacy?” If you just let this version of the band be its own thing, it’s easy to just enjoy it for what it is without high stakes.

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