Pixies The Night The Zombies Came

Druids. Headless chickens. Drinking. These are just some of the topics fearless Pixies leader Black Francis sings about on the band’s ninth album (and fifth since re-forming sans Kim Deal). But the overarching theme, if there is one, is right there in the title: zombies. Both the Night of the Living Dead variety (“Jane [The Night the Zombies Came]”) and the Dawn of the Dead shopping mall variety (“You’re So Impatient”) make an appearance, as do zombie movies themselves (“Chicken”). Not that it’s a concept album or anything—the driving punk of “Oyster Beds” references Black Francis’ painting hobby, while “Johnny Good Man”, “Ernest Evans” and “Kings of the Prairie” offer snapshots of life on the road. Elsewhere, guitarist Joey Santiago takes a lyrical bow with “Hypnotised”, a clever pop tune written in a Middle Ages poetic form called the sestina, and new bassist Emma Richardson (ex-Band of Skulls) lends her instrumental talents and understated backing vocals to tracks like “Motoroller”, which bounces like a Doolittle-era classic.