For album number three post-2004 reformation, Pixies have gone concept. Black Francis, meet Black Magic. Beneath the Eyrie is a haunted kind of album. Recorded in four weeks at Dreamland Studio (a former church in New York state), the album is filled with gothic imagery and thoughts of death – and whatever it is that comes after that. Grunge folk tales abound, like on ‘Catfish Kate’, an infectious epic sprung from a family legend about a woman caught in a fight to the death with (ready for this?) a catfish, emerging victorious in the track’s final minute wearing its still-bloodied skin like a robe. Pixies have said the album is their Blair Witch, and it’s true that there is darkness in every corner. Thematically speaking, Beneath the Eyrie revolves around two Ds; death, and divorce. Still, it’s hardly a miserable listen – this is Pixies, after all. Even the bitter Nick Cave growl of ‘Bird of Prey’ is offset by light backing vocals and a practically sunny guitar intro, turning it into something more longing than savage. This is one of those ‘Divorce’ songs, even if the band didn’t quite know it at the time of writing. The idea of love’s labours lost seep through.

Beneath the Eyrie marks the closure of all kinds of chapters, real and imagined alike. Campfire sing-along closer ‘Death Horizon’ brings endings like falling dominoes – dead relationships, dead human race, dead earth. The twanging, Western atmosphere also comes through on prowling ‘Head Carrier’ holdover ‘Silver Bullet’ (which may or may not be Pixies’ first werewolf anthem), while ‘Long Rider’ takes that same swagger on the road and throws its lot in with surf-rock. The latter is one of the record’s high points, catchy and rollicking enough to warrant consecutive plays. It’s a particular gift, this merging of genres. A careful balance of reinvention and heritage makes the album both fresh and familiar. ‘Los Surfers Muertos’ especially slips into the musical path the band laid long ago, while also paying fitting tribute to a friend who died while they were recording. It’s celebration of life, rather than a Danse macabre.

So sure there’s heartbreak and loss on Beneath the Eyrie, but also buoyancy and love. The one is the trade-off for the other. For all it’s lurking sprites and werewolves, the album is a salve. Feeling cursed? The witch doctor will see you now. - Loud And Quiet

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: It's only the bloody PIXIES again isn't it! In possibly their most on-brand release since their reformation in 2004, 'Beneath The Eyrie' has the gothic appeal of their early works, the production elements we expect from modern rock and / or roll and Black's voice on top form. It's a triumph in every way, and hopefully the trajectory they'll continue upon is clear. Stunner!

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Limited gatefold coloured vinyl.

Coloured LP includes MP3 Download Code.

30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Pixies’ Debut EP and Album, Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa, includes Bonus 1986 Radio Concert Live From The Fallout Shelter

“An unparalleled example of rule-smashing innovation in independent music.” Pitchfork

“Smack in between hardcore punk and alternative, their secret weapon was leaping from sweet to screaming, driving a spike into Eighties rock.” Rolling Stone

“Surfer Rosa quickly cemented itself as a must-have album (and) 30 years on, its aged into timelessness rather than becoming a period piece.” The Quietus

It’s been thirty years since the release of Surfer Rosa – a record made up of rage, religion, gore, incest and superheroes named Tony – a debut album so good that it’s since seen as a masterpiece. A year prior came Come On Pilgrim, an eight-track mini-album released in 1987 which contained cuts culled from their first ever studio session, where they famously recorded seventeen tracks in just three days (in full, this session makes up the band’s much bootlegged and now officially released The Purple Tape).

These formative records showed the Pixies to be an alien breed; four oddball outsiders from Boston blending US underground thrash rock, indie surf pop and Spanish-language flamenco with the Biblical mythology of Frances’s childhood. They would go on to record another masterpiece in 1989’s Doolittle but it’s the gruesome glory of Surfer Rosa, and the ruined sexuality of its cover image (a topless flamenco dancer in a crumbling Mexican bar) that set a fresh blueprint for an indie rock dynamism that not only planted the seeds of grunge (Kurt Cobain would admit that he was trying to imitate the record while writing Nevermind) but of much of the best rock music made since.

To celebrate this milestone, Pixies are playing fi ve sold-out intimate shows at London’s Roundhouse this October and preceding them is the release of Come On Pilgrim… It’s Surfer Rosa, the thirtieth anniversary edition which contains Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa and Live From The Fallout Shelter, a concert-cum-session that first aired in late-1986 on WJUL in Lowell, MA.

In addition to both a three CD and three LP edition, there’s also a super-limited and stunning deluxe clothbound hardbook three LP version, which will be a must for all fans. Like all other Pixies sleeves, Vaughan Oliver returns as designer, stunningly reinterpreting his original artwork with Simon Larbalestier’s iconic photographs remaining these record’s crowning glory.

FORMAT INFORMATION

3xColoured LP Info: Wide Spine Cover, Gold Vinyl, Download Card of Live From The Fallout Shelter Included.

3xDeluxe LP Info: Clothbound Hardbook.
Clear Vinyl.
Lyric Booklet.
Art Book & Download Card of Live From The Fallout Shelter Included.

FREE SHIPPING This item has FREE UK shipping!

3xCD Info: Hardbook Wallet Case with Lyric Booklet.

Sophomore ‘post reunion’ album from the alt-rock legends, their first new music since 2014’s Indie Cindy.

This 12 track record showcases the band’s unique mixture of surrealism, psychedelia, dissonance  and surf rock.

Produced by Tom Dalgety (Royal Blood, Killing Joke) and recorded at London’s Rak Studios.

Paz Lenchantin, the band’s touring bassist since early 2014 (and previously a member of A Perfect Circle and Zwan amongst others) is now a permanent member of the band and her cool vocals can be heard on the album, most notably on ‘All I Think About Now’ on which she takes the lead.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Deluxe LP Info: Deluxe slipcase containing a 12” rigid book housing the new album on 180g heavyweight black vinyl + CD, plus exclusive 24-page concertina lyric booklet
Designed by renowned graphic artist Vaughan Oliver at V23.

Sophomore ‘post reunion’ album from the alt-rock four piece, their first new music since 2014’s Indie Cindy. 

This 12 track record showcases the band’s unique mixture of surrealism, psychedelia, dissonance + surf rock. 

Produced by Tom Dalgety (Royal Blood, Killing Joke) and recorded at London’s Rak Studios.

Paz Lenchantin, the band’s touring bassist since early 2014 (and previously a member of A Perfect Circle and Zwan amongst others) is now a permanent member of the band and her cool vocals can be heard on the album, most notably on ‘All I Think About Now’ on which she takes the lead. 

All artwork designed by renowned graphic artist Vaughan Oliver at V23

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: The Pixies are back! Songs like 'Classic Masher' show a much more melodic leaning, harmonied chorus' and repeated one-note guitar squeals over Black's trademark vocals. 'Talent' is a moody and rocking punk number, driven and aggressive guitars power through their three-chord foundations while 'All I Think About Now' is sung exclusively by Paz Lenchantin (One time Corgan affiliate and one third of A Perfect Circle) and is instantly reminiscent of the early energy and vocal stylings of Surfer Rosa or Doolittle. A brilliant (second) comeback, and a great sign for the future.

FORMAT INFORMATION

CD Info: CD format is 12-panel softpack containing CD + bespoke rollfold lyric booklet.

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, 4AD release PIXIES: Doolittle 25, a deluxe, three-disc package that brings together for the first time all the album's B-sides, Peel Sessions and demos from the time, along with the original album. Nearly half of the tracks on this album are being commercially released for the first time.

Doolittle, the second studio album from Pixies - Black Francis, Joey Santiago, Kim Deal and David Loverng - was to prove a pivotal moment for both band and the wider scene. For the few years prior, the band had enjoyed cult status in their homeland with their early records having to find their way in to the US on import. Their secret was well and truly out in 1989 though when their British label (4AD) joined forces with American giant Elektra in time for Doolittle to receive a full domestic release.

Produced by Gil Norton and recorded between two studios (Downtown Recorders in Boston MA and Carriage House Studios in Stamford CT) in late-1988, Doolittle was an instant hit, containing some of the band’s most memorable singles (‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’, ‘Here Comes Your Man’, ‘Debaser’). A slow-burn success story followed, helping them to sell in excess of a million copies in the US alone.

An important record, included among the many plaudits thrown Doolittle’s way was Pitchfork ranking it at Number 4 in their Best Albums of the 80s poll, while NME writers in 2004 named it their Second Best Album of All Time. The band toured Doolittle in 2009 to celebrate its 20th birthday and 5 years on from then, it’s now time to give it the deluxe release treatment it deserves.

Like all other Pixies sleeves before it, Vaughan Oliver returns to oversee its design, reinterpreting his original artwork and Simon Larbalestier’s photographs to create a stunning design using metallic ink.

FORMAT INFORMATION

3xLP Info: Gatefold 3LP version, with three pieces of 180g black vinyl being pressed - the first containing the original album, the second, 6 B-Sides and 2 full Peel Sessions and the third being the album in complete demo form plus 3 bonus tracks. A download card is included, offering access to all LP tracks plus 4 more bonus tracks.

3xCD Info: Doolittle 25 contains an impressive 50 tracks with the original album on disc one, 2 full Peel Sessions & 6 B-sides on disc two and the complete album in demo form plus 7 bonus tracks on disc three.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2014 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

Fans have dreamed about it for years, and now Pixies are delivering. Indie Cindy, the band’s first full studio album since 1991’s Trompe le Monde, will be released in late April on the band’s own independent label, Pixiesmusic.

“We started seriously talking about recording new music about four years ago,” said Pixies drummer David Lovering. “New music seemed like something we just had to do, we just couldn’t continue to go out and tour without anything new. So the talk evolved into writing and recording, and we’re all very happy with the way everything worked out.”

The 12 cuts on Indie Cindy were produced by Gil Norton, producer of the band’s classic Doolittle, Bossanova, and Trompe le Monde albums, and recorded during October 2012 at Rockfield Studios in Wales, UK. The various packages feature a collection of brand new artwork by the legendary graphic artist Vaughan Oliver who created the artwork for all of Pixies’ previous releases. The album is comprised of “Bagboy,” the band’s first new song in more than a decade, the eight tracks from the band’s EP-1 and EP-2, released September 3, 2013 and January 3, 2014 respectively, plus the three new tunes from the just-released EP-3 - all written by the Pixies - Black Francis/vocals, guitar; Joey Santiago/guitars; David Lovering/drums, backing vocals. With EP-1, EP-2 and now EP-3 having been available only in digital and limited-edition vinyl formats, Indie Cindy will mark the first time fans can have all of the new Pixies music in one collection.

While Pixies have been acclaimed as the most influential, pioneering band of the late 80s alt/rock movement, having blazed the trail for artists from Nirvana to Radiohead to Pearl Jam, today, a whole new generation of music fans are discovering their iconic “loudquietloud” signature sound. After five genre-defining studio albums, Pixies disbanded in 1993, and then launched their reunion tour in April 2004, playing to sell-out crowds all over the globe for seven years, a longer period of time than they were a band originally. But writing, recording and releasing new music was something that the band had been wanting to do for a long time, so they secretly booked studio time in Wales for the fall of 2012. Six days into the recording, founding bassist Kim Deal decided to leave the band; Black Francis, Joey Santiago and David Lovering made the decision to carry on, working with a variety of touring bassists, something they’d never done. As the UK’s DIY wrote about the new music, “They’re back. They’re still brilliant. God save the Pixies.”

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xLtd LP Info: Special RSD limited edition, two-disc, deluxe gatefold, 180-gram vinyl set including a bonus 7", only from independent record stores participating in RSD around the world.

After more than twenty years, and following two recent EPs and an extensive touring plot, the hugely influential and iconic Pixies mark their return with ‘Indie Cindy’, their first full-length album since 1991’s ‘Trompe le Monde’.

Recorded at Rockfield Studios, Wales with long-time producer Gil Norton (‘Doolittle’, ‘Bossa Nova’ and ‘Trompe le Monde’), ‘Indie Cindy’ is available on gatefold heavyweight double vinyl (including CD) and CD.

All artwork conceived by celebrated graphic designer Vaughan Oliver, who designed all previous Pixies album artwork (in addition to Cocteau Twins, Throwing Muses, The Breeders).

Featuring the classic Pixies recipe of soft / loud dynamics, darkly comical lyrics and insanely catchy riffs, these 12 tracks are sure to win over die hard fans and newcomers alike.

The ultimate Pixies compilation, ‘Wave Of Mutilation’ has sold over half a million copies since its release in 2004 and remains a consistent seller with the band regularly touring, headlining festivals and crossing over to new audiences. However, it has taken six years and the re-issue of the regular albums to finally release the ‘Best Of Pixies’ on vinyl.

Following the original CD sequencing, the double vinyl set (each side is under 20 minutes long for the best quality cut) is packaged in a gatefold sleeve.

“This compilation's track listing is in more or less chronological order… which helps the flow of the collection; since each of the Pixies’ albums had its own distinctive feel, the cut'n'paste approach of the previous best of didn't always serve the songs it collected. The collection does a good job of compiling the band's singles, two excellent B-sides (‘Into The White’ and ‘Winterlong’), and many of their key album tracks. Even though the best way to experience the band is still devouring each of their albums, ‘Wave Of Mutilation: Best Of Pixies’ is intended as a primer to their work, and - fannish nitpicking aside - it's a far better overview than what was available before” - Heather Phares (All Music).

STAFF COMMENTS

Andy says: The best of one of the greatest bands ever, now on lush double vinyl. RESULT.

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xLtd LP Info: 2 x 180g vinyl pressing in gatefold sleeve and outer PVC.

On this final album from The Pixies, Frank Black explores his sci-fi fascination in his usual quirky, cryptic style. Less abrasive than previous releases and with more depth emotionally, "Trompe Le Monde" is a rousing swan song that opened the flood gates for alternative rock bands to finally break through into the mainstream. The Pixies still remain one of the most influential rock bands of the last 20 years.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Ltd LP Info: On 180 gram vinyl for the first time.

Originally released in 1990, "Bossanova" was seen as something of a let-down initially, (it was always going to be tough following such a huge album as "Doolittle") but Frank Black has since said it's his favourite. There are rockers here but it's on the mellower moments that they really excel.

FORMAT INFORMATION

Ltd LP Info: On 180 gram vinyl for the first time.

"Doolittle" was the follow up to their ground breaking debut "Surfer Rosa" and basically continued where that one left off. With a slightly more refined sound, less raw and more melodic (even more pop!), arty and with strange twists and turns, it was probably their most successful album. Includes "Debaser", "Here Comes Your Man", "Monkey Gone To Heaven".

FORMAT INFORMATION

LP Info: These limited edition vinyl are mastered from original tapes, the sleeves have been printed from original films and the albums pressed on 180g vinyl.

The Steve Albini produced "Surfer Rosa" was the first full length release from The Pixies. Abrasive, clever, and totally unique, it defined their sound and became one of the most influential albums of the 80s.

FORMAT INFORMATION

LP Info: These limited edition vinyl are mastered from original tapes, the sleeves have been printed from original films and the albums pressed on 180g vinyl. Limited to 1500 copies world wide.

If you don't already own this CD - why on earth not??? "Come On Pilgrim" was their first mini album, released in 1987, it was followed by the Steve Albini produced "Surfer Rosa". Abrasive, clever, and totally unique, it defined their sound and became one of the most influential albums of the 80s. With the tracks from both albums now available on one CD, you'd be a fool not to buy it!