The Pixies Finally Begin Contemplating New Album
In the seven years since the Pixies reformed for a series of highly successful series of reunion tours, they’ve managed to resist fans’ pleas for a new album. But now, according to drummer David Lovering, the band is beginning to crack. “It’s definitely a stronger possibility than it was a few years ago,” he tells Rolling Stone. “It’s going to be baby steps, though. We have the formula and we know we can do it. But if we put something out, it has to be good. Period. We don’t want to break the legacy. It’s much more of a free subject to talk about now though. We’re gonna go slowly and see what will happen.”
In the meantime, the group has been spent the last two years on the road playing their 1989 classic Doolittle in its entirety. They just announced a “Lost Cities” leg that will hit U.S. markets they missed during the initial go-rounds. “I didn’t think it was going to last this long,” says Lovering. “I thought it would be maybe a year in the United States, and then it just kept going and going. The demand keeps coming for the Doolittle thing. I can’t believe it. I actually really like playing the album. It keeps me busy and off the streets, so that’s good.”
The show hasn’t changed much since they started in late 2009. “We’re doing pretty much the same set – starting with the B-sides and then going though the album and then doing B-sides again,” says Lovering. “The only difference I can think of is that our proficiency might be better. A lot of kids that weren’t even born when Doolittle came out are seeing the shows. So it’s just a different perspective on it when I’m playing it and looking into the audience. It’s just amazing.”
The reunion phase of the Pixies‘ career has now lasted longer than the band’s original incarnation. “It’s really bizarre,” says Lovering. “I don’t know if there is an end in sight with the way things are going. We can still play shows and people still want to see us. When we got back together in 2004 I wasn’t looking at the long run. I think we’re very fortunate and really enjoying it, so it keeps going and going.” The group famously feuded during their initial run, but Lovering says those days are long behind them. “We definitely appreciate things being older and wiser,” he says. “It makes us mind our Ps and Qs a little more.”
Surfer Rosa, the band’s 1988 debut LP, will turn 25 in 2013. Might they celebrate that year with a Surfer Rosa tour? “That would be great,” says Lovering. “I love Doolittle, but I think that I like Surfer Rosa a little better. I think that’s because that was the one we cut our teeth on when we were a baby band. If we don’t have any new material, I think that’s what we’ll do . . . We could possibly just tour forever off our catalog, but it seems like we’ve been playing a lot more casinos now. So I don’t know about that road.”