PIXIES
Doggerel (BMG)
Whenever a new album by the post-millennial Pixies turns up – and with Doggerel, there are now as many of those as from their original era – there’s an impulse to pick out parts that seem to call back to the four-year burst of output that altered the tone of alternative rock. Probably not a good impulse, to be clear! Pixies seem much more creative and functional than other high-profile reformed bands, in that they could get away with not making music at all, and the 12-song album Doggerel contains some punchy, witty, sometimes even inspired moments.
On the other hand, it does begin with a song, Nomatterday, that distinctly resembles their canonical Monkey Gone To Heaven, which seems to sell themselves short. Better are Dregs Of The Wine, combining Alice Cooper’s and Tom Waits’ diverse approaches to vaudeville, and some scattered acoustic turns which do ‘mature’ and ‘wistful’ with fair panache.
words NOEL GARDNER