Beneath The Eyrie - Pixies: Review
are a legendary American experimental rock band who released a run of four records in the late 80's into the early 90's that is considered among the greatest runs in all of rock music history. After breaking up at the tail end of this run and the departure of one of their key members Kim Deal in 2013, they were set up for a disappointing return. In 2014 the band dropped their comeback 5th record Indie Cindy to critical ire from across the board. Critics and fans alike were let down by the bands cheapened and forgettable attempt at continuing to push the envelope of rock but falling far short. They improved on their next record but just barely as 2016's Head Carrier received only slightly less negative reviews. All of this led to expectations being low for Beneath The Eyrie with Pixies yet to establish themselves since their reunion as anywhere near the band they were before.
Review By Lavender:
There's nothing I can say that hasn't been said before about the Pixies original run of four records to start their career. Records like Surfer Rosa and Doolittle are some of the best and most forward thinking rock records of the 80's and hold up amazingly to this day. Unfortunately the two Pixies records I've been around to hear have been massive let downs, not only do they fall short of the incredibly high bar that the band set for themselves, but they fall short of the bar for contemporary indie or rock music too. Going into Beneath I was skeptical of the singles and didn't have particularly high hopes for the record, but thankfully the album is another noticeable improvement from their last, although they still have a long way to go.
The lead single was On Graveyard Hill a track that I don't love. It does feature some pretty jammy guitars but the song is far too campy and has a really rough hook, it also seems to just strangely dump a bunch of energy into the wrong places. Thankfully the next two singles were better starting with Catfish Kate a dreamier almost shoegaze inspired tune. The track has some silly lyrics I wish I could forget but is one of the better tunes on the record ultimately. The final single St. Nazaire is one of the wilder things Pixies have done since their original run, I like the enthusiastic raw vocals and while the songwriting isn't perfect it is pretty cool to see the band once again really trying to make something unique.
The record gets off to a decent start with In The Arms Of Mrs. Mark Of Cain a track that features some horror show synths and cold vocals that remind me of an early Arcade Fire tune with a little bit of a lesser tune at its core. Silver Bullet is one of the best tracks of the bunch and it sounds like there is some narrative influence from the likes of Leonard Cohen or Tom Waits. The track has a pretty sharp and steady instrumental build that reminds me much more of the classic Pixies sound than either of their last two records. Death Horizon is a decent closer that blends together some 90's rock with more 2000's indie stuff, the song itself is decent but a total head scratcher for a closing song as it just ends really abruptly completely out of nowhere and serves as a really disappointing final moment on the record.
As far as tracks I can dish out a lot of praise to go, that is pretty much it as the rest of what is here sounds more like the last two Pixies records than the four before that. Birds Of Prey is a decently interesting track that combines some Nick Cave influences story telling with a strange western instrumental that is certainly unique, but the track has no real meaningful progression and has a hook that falls flat on its face. Los Surfers Muertos is another song that brings the shoegaze influence but really doesn't do it justice with almost not energy in the song and completely mind numbing vocals. Long Rider has some slick lead guitar work and a super catchy vocal refrain, while I do have some big questions about the awful verses and the weak instrumental I guess you could say the band nailed the more important parts.
The rest of the songs here are just flat out duds that nobody should ever have to listen to, This Is My Fate sounds like a leftover song from Indie Cindy, Ready For Love is a weak tune all around that is anti-catchy and has one of the least interesting instrumentals I've heard all year. And finally Daniel Boone is the song on here that most directly sounds like shitty 90's pastiche with absolutely nothing redeemable all around.
Beneath The Eyrie may be the best record Pixies has released this decade but that really shouldn't mean much and it honestly doesn't speak volumes to the quality of the album at all. There are just as many decent tracks as awful ones and the band very rarely makes any attempt at all to push their sound into a new territory. I do have to say I am once again disappointed, but not surprised, by a Pixies record with the silver lining being that I think they have operated with an "only way to go is up" mentality and that maybe their next album will once again top this one. 5/10
For more great 90's bands comeback records check out my review of Tool's Fear Innoculum here
