Pixies’ reputation as alt-rock trailblazers has been reignited in recent months. Their singles ‘Dregs of the Wine’, ‘There’s A Moon On’ and ‘Vault of Heaven’ have reconnected with long-standing fans and inspired newcomers too, a blend reiterated by a series of outdoor headline shows as well as a huge Hyde Park gig as guests to Pearl Jam. Pixies have now released their new album Doggerel on Infectious Music / BMG Australia, their first studio set since 2019’s Beneath The Eyrie.
In addition to the recent singles, Doggerel is full of new material which lives up to their iconic status. It’s a mature yet visceral record of gruesome folk, ballroom pop and brutal rock, haunted by the ghosts of affairs and indulgences, driven wild by cosmic forces and envisioning digital afterlives where no God has provided one. And all the while, right there on the news, another distant storm approaches.
Produced by Tom Dalgety (Royal Blood, Ghost), Doggerel represents an evolution for Pixies, one that you wouldn’t always associate with a band deep into a storied career. Their famously off-kilter streak is still present, but it’s channeled into songs which are bigger, more orchestrated and in some aspects a little more direct. Black Francis’s lyrics have also altered, his surrealist phrasing playing upon myths, legends, pop culture and a little nostalgia.
A congregation between darkness and beauty consistently emerges throughout the record. Opener ‘Nomatterday’ sets the tone, lurching and grinding with an ominous intensity before unfolding into a breezy, power-pop rush. The ‘50s-tinged ‘Haunted House’ is possessed by the spirit of ghosts both literal and metaphoric, while ‘The Lord Has Come Back’ will be familiar to fans who have attended Pixies’ recent shows. Later on, beguiling folk-rock melodies propel ‘Pagan Man’ and then ‘Who’s More Sorry Now?’ asks questions about recriminations while carrying elements that recall guitarist Joey Santiago’s admiration for Ennio Morricone.
Santiago recently had his first Pixies songwriting credit for ‘Dregs of the Wine’, while his second follows with the album’s title track (both alongside Francis). Loosely styled and irregular in measure, it’s a slowburning song which is Doggerel both in name and nature.
Doggerel tracklist:
‘Nomatterday’
‘Vault of Heaven’
‘Dregs of the Wine’
‘Haunted House’
‘Get Simulated’
‘The Lord Has Come Back Today’
‘Thunder & Lightning’
‘There’s A Moon On’
‘Pagan Man’
‘Who’s More Sorry Now?’
‘You’re Such A Sadducee’
‘Doggerel’
Australia is set to be one of the first countries to hear songs from Doggerel live with Pixies returning in 2022 for their mammoth – Come On Pilgrim… It’s Surfer Rosa tour. The tour will bear witness to both seminal albums being performed in full – plus new and old tracks spanning their extensive catalogue.
Fans had better get in quick with most shows sold out and only a handful of tickets remaining for Sydney Opera House Forecourt, Sunday 4th December and Freemantle Arts Centre, Sunday 11th December.
Pixies – Come On Pilgrim… It’s Surfer Rosa
Australia & New Zealand 2022
BRISBANE – Fortitude Music Hall – Friday 2nd December [sold out]
SYDNEY – Sydney Opera House Forecourt – Saturday 3rd December [sold out]
SYDNEY – Sydney Opera House Forecourt – Sunday 4rd December
MELBOURNE – Forum – Tuesday 6th December [sold out]
MELBOURNE – Forum – Wednesday 7th December [sold out]
ADELAIDE – Thebarton Theatre – Thursday 8th December [sold out]
PERTH – Fremantle Arts Centre – Saturday 10th December [sold out]
PERTH – Fremantle Arts Centre – Sunday 11th December
WELLINGTON – Opera House – Wednesday 14th December [sold out]
AUCKLAND – Town Hall – Thursday 15th December
AUCKLAND – Town Hall – Friday 16th December [sold out]
CHRISTCHURCH – Town Hall – Saturday 17th December [sold out]
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30 March 2022
PIXIES, one of the most influential alternative rock bands of all time, have unfinished business in Australia and New Zealand and will be returning in 2022 for their mammoth – Come On Pilgrim… It’s Surfer Rosa tour. Pixies’ debut releases – the electrifying 1987 EP Come On Pilgrim and 1988’s debut full-length album, Surfer Rosa – brought rise to a new genre and defined contemporary music for a generation.
The tour will bear witness to both seminal albums being performed in full – plus new and old tracks spanning their extensive catalogue. Surfer Rosa is a record made up of rage, religion, gore, incest and superheroes named Tony – a debut album so good that it’s since been seen as a masterpiece. Produced by Steve Albini, it includes early Pixies classics such as “Bone Machine,” “Gigantic,” “Vamos” and “Where Is My Mind?”. Come On Pilgrim contained eight songs from the band’s first-ever studio session, produced by Gary Smith and recorded at his Fort Apache Studio near Boston.
Almost two years to the day, Pixies were forced to leave Australia when the global pandemic took hold. With only one show in Auckland and one in Melbourne completed, the band were determined to get the show back on the road and will return to Australian and New Zealand shores this December.
On announcing the new shows the band said: “We are thrilled to be able to announce our return to Australia and New Zealand in December 2022, following the untimely postponement of some of these shows back in 2020. We will be returning to play two different sets across the tour:
1. Performing Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa in their entirety – in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Wellington and Christchurch.
2. A brand new set featuring songs from across our catalogue, including some oldies and some brand new tracks – in Melbourne and Auckland.
La la love you!”
Pixies – Come On Pilgrim… It’s Surfer Rosa
Australia & New Zealand 2022
BRISBANE – Fortitude Music Hall – Friday 2nd December
SYDNEY – Sydney Opera House Forecourt – Saturday 3rd December
MELBOURNE – Forum – Wednesday 7th December
ADELAIDE – Thebarton Theatre – Thursday 8th December
PERTH – Fremantle Arts Centre – Saturday 10th December
WELLINGTON – Opera House – Wednesday 14th December
AUCKLAND – Town Hall – Friday 16th December
CHRISTCHURCH – Town Hall – Saturday 17th December