ALBUM REVIEW: Pixies – Doggerel

BMG

Released: 30.09.22

Were it not for Pixies, the face of alternative rock would be unrecognisable. Champions of loud choruses and gentle verses amongst myriad other idiosyncrasies, and without whom Radiohead may have gone uninspired and Nirvana ungalvanised, Pixies and their 60s-inspired punk live on, now releasing a fourth album since their reformation.

Doggerel is, unfortunately, no match for the unrestrained chaos and earworm-ish tunes of their magnus opi Doolittle and Surfer Rosa. The spaghetti western overtones of leading single Vault of Heaven somewhat echo the surfer rock of Here Comes Your Man; bass-charged opener Nomatterday seems born of the same self-deprecatory ideascapes of Joker. Doggerel remains true to the things that make Pixies who they are, but lacks two things: an obvious nadir and a true climax.