I’d Rather Feel Bad Than Not Feel Anything At All

Pixies “Ain’t That Pretty At All” – This is the second new recording from the Pixies since Trompe Le Monde was released in 1991. It was recorded for the forthcoming Warren Zevon tribute album Enjoy Every Sandwich on Artemis Records, which will also include renditions of Zevon tunes by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Van Dyke Parks, and er, Adam Sandler.

Those of you who may have felt that the iTunes-only release “Bam Thwock” (which I absolutely adore, by the way) sounded more like the Breeders than the Pixies should be pleased with this track, which is heavy on Kim Deal/Black Francis vocal interplay and feels much more like the Pixies of the Surfer Rosa era. It’s raw, noisy and visceral, as well as catchy and playful. It feels so great to hear Kim and Black Francis trading off lines like this, as though there was never any bad blood between them. The spark is clearly still there, and now I’m suddenly quite eager for them to record some more new material when at first I felt a great deal of trepidation about that possibility. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)

Band Jolle “Hand In Hand” – I know next to nothing about this band aside from the fact that they are Swedish. I wish that I could figure out who this girl’s voice reminds me of – I keep thinking Shirly Manson from Garbage, but that’s not quite right. There’s a certain girliness to her voice and glossiness to the sound which is very teen pop, but the guitars and beat are very much from the Strokes/Interpol school of nouveau post-punk. (Click here to visit the band’s official site.)

Also: As of this week’s 500th column, Glenn McDonald has concluded his regular weekly run of The War Against Silence. Though I seldom share Glenn’s taste and opinions, and occasionally find his prose to be a bit too indulgent and long-winded, I have a great admiration for what he has accomplished with that site over the years. TWAS was one of the first self-published music sites that I ever encountered on the internet, and was part of what inspired me to start this blog. Godspeed, Glenn.