Pixies Doggerel
Familiarity floods through Pixies’ latest album – with classic chord progressions, comforting beats and sprechgesang it feels like time has stood still, and not in a bad way.
Doggerel is another Pixies classic, characterised by distorted guitars with delays and the melting together of Black Francis’s deep voice and Paz Lenchantin’s dream-like vocals. It begins with the catchy ‘Nomatterday’. Although it starts like a modern punk rock song that wouldn’t be out of place in the charts, it slips back into more old-school form by changes in tempo and melody. Thematically there also seems to be a shift, as though Pixies are forewarning us how the rest of the album will unfold.
On the third single and third track off the album ‘Dregs of the Wine’, American accents are strongly accentuated alongside short guitar solos. Reminiscent of ‘Monkey’s Gone to Heaven’, it feels almost theatrical in its production, with lots of movement between ideas and sounds.
Religion is a running theme, most obvious in the titles ‘The Lord Has Come Back Today’, ‘Pagan Moon’ and ‘You’re Such a Sadducee’. However, where the first two lean towards the surf rock and punk rock mix that Pixies have been known for, the latter seems less stylistically revolutionary.
The last song on the album, the title track, is rife with musical parallels to other artists. From Bowie to The National, this concluding track is bass-heavy and mellifluous. Although at times this album feels repetitive and perhaps too similar to Pixies music of the past, this song merits its place and opens up the possibility of future change.
