I could keep going but I'll stop by saying Doggerel is everything you expect from a Pixies record - an "alt-rock" band that knows how to craft songs. Despite a lushness earned over the years, the Pixies still sneer, creep and shout.
"It has the swagger of a snake, with arms," says Black Francis at the end of "Dregs of the Wine" - a song that name checks Van Halen while remembering a time he and Joe Santiago moved to Los Angeles.
The swagger of a snake with arms is a line you can imagine David Lee Roth shouting on MTV while high kicking. As you can imagine without even hearing it, Black Francis's delivery of that line is a different kind of lecherous.
There's a lived-in quality to Doggerel. A loose-fit Pixies, in contrast to the tight goth pants of their previous record, Beneath the Eyrie.
This time around it feels like they're staring at the sky, around the campfire, searching for God or aliens or anything else we have complicated relationships with.
Much of the religious imagery begins right with the song titles: "Vault of Heaven," "Pagan Man" and "You're Such a Sadduccee." Right in the center of the album is "The Lord Has Come Back Today."
But you can always count on The Pixies and Francis, in particular, to take a specific religious image and run off into a surprising new direction. As the primary songwriter, he's delivered a handful of songs here that would be smart and arresting if it were just his voice and guitar.
The magic elixir as always is the rest of the band dropping in with colors and surprises.
Santiago is the great under celebrated guitar hero of rock and roll. David Lovering is unflappably rock steady. And Paz Lenchantin continues to be a breath of fresh air.
It's silly to belabor the point - The Pixies are an excellent band and deliver each time out. Doggerel is another win from top to bottom.
Click the cover art below to get your copy:
Share this article
On the Blue: New Horizons Cruise Days 4 & 5: Starship Lands on the Pearl, Alan Parsons Takes It Home
Kandace Springs - Run Your Race
On the Blue: New Horizons Cruise Day 1: Marbin Gets the Fun Started
Hot In The City: Prog Band Tu-Ner Coming to Phoenix
Pink Floyd's David Gilmour Reveals Song From First New Album In Nine Years
AC/DC Launching High Voltage Dive Bar At Stops On Power Up Tour
Vince Neil Says Motley Crue's New Song 'Dogs of War' Old School Meets New School
Watch Twenty One Pilots' New 'Backslide' Video
Billy Idol Goes Behind The Scenes Of Classic Hit 'Eyes Without A Face'
Ringo Starr Reunited with John Lennon's Lost 1965 Help! Guitar Found in an Attic After 50 Years
Hear Say Anything's New Song 'ON CUM'
Metal Supergroup Leviathan Project Deliver 'MCMLXXXII'