PIXIES - EP3

Highlights: Bagboy

6/10

It’s only their third EP without Kim Deal but it’s already tiresome. It feels like this has been going on for ages, and now they also have a wonderful idea of combining all those EP songs and making a full-length album out of them. Come on, Frank, who do you think we are? Out of these 12 new songs 6 are good and 6 would have been laughed off any proper Pixies album.

Still, let’s finish this thing off and be done with it.

EP3 isn’t exactly a trainwreck type of thing, but we’re deep in no-man’s land. “Bagboy”, by far the strongest song here, opens the EP in a groovy and meaningful way. “Silver Snail” has an intriguing, dark guitar line that promises great things, but while the songwriting is definitely there, the spark never arrives. “Ring The Bells” is Pixies for little girls in polka-dot dresses. I don’t mind, but equally I’m not too impressed. “Jamie Bravo” is a catchy pop-rocker (Spanish singing!) that never bothers to have an edge. If I need Weezer, I’ll go and listen to Weezer, thank you very much. (Mercifully, I never need any Weezer.) 

And I honestly don’t have anything against these songs. But God knows this stuff would have made so much more sense if it were released under Frank Black’s name. Stop reuniting, past bands who were any good! And please – don’t for a moment consider Indie Cindy a proper Pixies LP.