HOW TO GO
What: The Pixies
When: May 16, 8 p.m.
Where: Horseshoe Casino, 1000 Broadway St., Cincinnati
Cost: $43
More Info: (513) 252-0777 or visit www.horseshoecincinnati.com.
The Pixies are famous internationally for being one of the forerunners of what became known as alternative rock in the 1990s, and locally for being co-founded by Dayton resident, Kim Deal.
Just over one year ago, they released “Indie Cindy,” their first album in 23 years, and 10 years after they formally got back together. As they tour the U.S., which will include Cincinnati’s Horseshoe Casino Saturday, May 16, Pixies lead guitarist, Joey Santiago, explained that the time lag between the reunion and the new material was largely due to a certain type of fan demand, generated after having been broken up for most of the previous decade.
“People wanted to hear the old songs,” he said. “We’d talked about it from the time of the reunion, but it just wasn’t ready. And when it became time, I met with Charles (singer Black Francis), and we bounced ideas off each other, then went into the studio to flesh it out.”
As is well known now, “Indie Cindy” both sounds like a typical Pixies album and doesn’t. There are places where Black Francis still barks and Santiago’s guitar still squeals, but it’s also a cleaner, smoother, more melodic album. If 1988’s “Surfer Rosa,” considered an indispensable classic by many, including a big fan named Kurt Cobain, was a sonic assault, “Indie Cindy” feels more like a warm embrace.
“We matured, as one should,” Santiago said. “We grew up a lot, sonically. We took (the new songs) to a mellow place subconsciously. It’s my favorite, and it’s Charles’s favorite.”
One person who is not on the album is Kim Deal, who departed the band in 2013 in the midst of recording.
“I don’t know why she left, you’d have to ask her,” Santiago said. “When she told us, she’d already booked her flight. There was nothing else to discuss. I just went out about the business of finishing the record and Charles followed suit. Whatever the reason was, it doesn’t matter, because there was nothing we could do about it.”
The Pixies intend to release more albums in the near future. Santiago implied that the band could match the productivity of the late 1980s and 90s, releasing four albums in as many years.
“It makes more sense because the life of an album these days is only three months,” he said. “If you want to stay on the radar in the digital age, you have to do it ASAP. We’ll probably go back to the initial idea, with Charles and an acoustic guitar, and evolve from there. Those seem to be the best moments for The Pixies.”
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