Album Reviews: new music from Pixies and HamsandwicH
L-R: Pixies' Frank Black; 3/5 of HamsandwicH with new LP 'Magnify'
- Pixies - Doggerel
- ★★★☆☆
Ever since reuniting in 2004, Pixies have achieved the peculiar trick of both thrilling and underwhelming their audience. Playing at Electric Picnic recently for instance they opened with an immaculate reprising of proto-grunge juggernaut 'Gouge Away' but then devoted the middle section of their 60-minute set to a suite of listless country songs.
Those tunes, it turns out, were a preview of the fourth long-player they have released in this second chapter of their career. That they have moved beyond the blazing weirdo-pop of their early years is understandable — and who would want to see a group of musicians in their 40s and 50s trying to sound like their 1990s selves? It would be tragic.
And yet this is an album that often seems to lose sight of why it even exists in the first place. At its worst, it tumbles into the grumpy listlessness that was a feature of the records frontman Frank Black was putting out toward the back end of his solo Pixies career (his early solo LPs are as good as anything by Pixies).
That said, it comes clattering out of the starting gate with the raw, splintered Nomatterday (which such classically gnarled Black lyrics as “don’t p*** in the fountain”). That singular Pixies mix of sweet and sardonic likewise shines through Dregs of the Wine, where bassist Paz Lenchantin’s backing vocal lands like an uncanny impersonation of Kim Deal (who left the line-up over a decade ago).
Alas, the molten mojo then melts away. 'The Lord Has Come Back Today' is a listless strummalong and 'Who’s More Sorry Now?' is Frank Black-does-Nashville, redeemed only by Joey Santiago’s zinging guitar line. Pixies are still one of the greatest indie bands ever. But this is a slight return, a project that is fated to become a footnote in their story.
- HamsandwicH - Magnify
- ★★★★☆
It’s been seven years since Ham Sandwich’s previous album but their latest — their fourth in their near 20 years — is worth the wait.
Buoyant electro-rock is the chosen genre and the group masterfully walks the line between exuberant and melancholic. It starts with the glimmering 'Electro Wave' — an impressive showcase for Niamh Farrell’s sparkling vocals — while 'Run Run' blends indie disco guitars with an irresistible melancholy.
That same folksy ennui hangs over 'Fired Up' until it opens out into a Goldfrapp-style electro-stomper. It brings final confirmation that is worth a closer look.
