NEW YORK — The undead, Medieval-themed suburban restaurants, the mall. Druidism, decapitated chickens, rebirth. Church, sheep slaughter, science fiction.
These are a few, not all, of the topics touched upon on the Pixies’ 10th studio album, “The Night the Zombies Came.” A 13-track kaleidoscopic collection of songs - their first with new bassist Emma Richardson - the album veers from folk to punk to psychedelia and back again and in between, never neatly fitting into a particular formula. In truth, “The Night the Zombies Came” plays out more like a film, each song a small vignette.
Frontman and visual artist Black Francis, born Charles Thompson, says that’s particularly evident in their slow or midtempo songs - the ones where they value space and reverb - an energetic choice as well as a musical one. “When you play, like, surf music, but you kind of dress it up in a little bit of a tuxedo or whatever, and you end up coming up with something that’s a little more spaghetti Western, right? Or more and you know, Ennio Morricone,” he says. “We’re not very good at any particular genre.
We like all of the genres of so-called popular music.” That’s evident across “The Night the Zombies Came.” Eclectic folk moments pull influence from Shirley Collins; Black’s chanty monotone on “Jane (The Night the Zombies Came)” is all Baxter Dury meets Sleaford Mods, though he says the song is “a mixture of Lou Reed and church music.
” The quirky palm-muted gu.
