Back in 2014, Pixies released their first album in over two decades without their original bassist to middling reception. Not me however, I really liked Indie Cindy and still listen to it from begining to end when I need a forty-five minute burst to the ear drums.
Later that year, the band released an additional track for Record Store Day called Women of War which I absolutely adored and, whilst a hold over from Indie Cindy, it gave me hope that there was more to come from the band and, just over two years later, my prayers were answered.
Marketed as the first Pixies album since their reunion that was conceptualised as an album (Indie Cindy being three EP's welded together) and the first featuring new bassist Paz Lenchantin, Head Carrier is the sixth album in Pixies discography and with a shorter run time and shorter songs; a more formulaic Pixies album.
The title track opens the album, in similar mould and sound to several tracks on Indie Cindy. It's rocky, has a nice catchy hook, Lenchantin's soft backing vocals are similar enough to Kim Deal's to give it a bit validity as an actual Pixies song for naysayers.
Lenchantin's biggest contribution to the album is undoubtedly All I Think About Now; a fantastic thank you written by Francis to Deal. Musically a more upbeat take of Magdalena 318 with more heartfelt lyrics of wanting to change the past to preserve a friendship, it's a welcome change of pace at the three quarter mark of the album.
Easily the biggest criticism of Indie Cindy was how little that album sounded like a Pixies album, as the more formulaic and common song structures and lengths were butting heads with their previous works (barring longer songs like Vamos and Space (I Believe In)).
Head Carrier attempts to rectify this with shorter and shockier bursts of music. The excellent Classic Masher has harmonic vocals on the chorus and crunchy guitars throughout and, whilst it doesn't have the tempo nor the aggression of classic Pixies, it's sounds like a more haggard and wiser iteration of them.
Following that is Baal's Back; although Francis' vocals show their age with more guttural shouts, the music sounds like something that could have easily been on Trompe le Monde or Bossanova. Talent is another superb little ditty with simplistic, catchy vocals and equally catchy chorus, something that might have worked as a slower number on Doolittle but Francis' vocals again give it away as something modern.
For those who only really like Surfer Rosa, Um Chagga Lagga is easily the standout of the bunch, starting with an acoustic guitar warm-up before Francis and Lenchantin sing back and forth at one another whilst the electric guitar mastery of Joey Santiago, it's the closest the band get to recapturing that album's unique sound and putting a modern spin on it.
Whilst the album does try to steer away and make amends on the more louder criticism of Indie Cindy, there's the occasional blemishes on the record that lets it down. Bel Esprit is a simple rock song that crescendos for an generic outro. Might As Well Be Gone is a slightly rockier take on Andro Queen, but whereas the latter had a ethereal quality that made it distinct on Indie Cindy, Might As Well Be Gone just plods at it's own pace.
The album also ends on a bit of a weird note. Plaster of Paris is an early R.E.M. or Real Estate Americana styled track that's pure filler whilst the closer All the Saints is slow and methodical with the occasional sweet release of power chords. Ironically, I would have put this at the start of the record as a false-lead in to the rockier tracks later and end the record on something with more tempo, but as it currently it, the song lacks a finalé, leaving the album finishing not on a bang, but a soft whimper.
It's cheap to say the album needed more riffs but there's times the tracks twiddle at their own pace and don't really offer nothing but more generic retreads of older material. Francis' lyrics can still be as obtuse as they were previously, although there's more modern references and observations here (although it might be best not to trust me on this as, for example I didn't get the references to Theseus and Cindy on Indie Cindy).
Again, Francis is responsible for the majority of vocals and, much like last time, his voice suits the slower pace and tempo of tracks, his younger voice simply wouldn't work here and with the slower pace, his lyrics are much more comprehensible and easier on the ears.
Whilst I acknowledge that I was in the minority who really liked Indie Cindy (and still does), at least it tried something new (for Pixies anyway).
Head Carrier however, only occasionally attempts to escape it's shadows from it's past and, whilst at times it succeeds, the album unfortunately mostly only serves as a reminder of how much better their earlier work was compared to here.
They'll be those who'll say the album is simply bad but at least tries to recapture the magic of old. For me however, Head Carrier is a short and easy listen; it has some excellent additions to the band's discography and the occasional bite but it's the soft clench of toothless gums on some of the slower material that lets it down from being a classic.
7/10
H
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