Pixies

Combining a love of 1960s melodies with intense, searing guitars and a natural fascination for the perverse and weird, Black Francis's gang of staunch outsiders, the Pixies, formed in 1986 in Boston, Massachusetts, and became cult heroes in the late 1980s against a backdrop of spandex-clad metal bands and manufactured pop. With Kurt Cobain admitting, "I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies," and a host of Britpop bands—from Blur to Suede to Radiohead—all paying homage to the band, their legacy has gone on to define them as one of the most influential bands of their era, with albums Surfer Rosa (1988) and Doolittle (1989) now cited as modern classics. Their signature loud-quiet-loud dynamic of rumbling bass lines leading to an explosion of crunching guitars created a feeling of a ticking time bomb, a style adopted by many grunge and alternative bands who surfaced in the 1990s. Later albums Bossanova (1990) and Trompe Le Monde (1991) both made the UK Top Ten, but when Black and Kim Deal fell out in 1993, the band split. Kim Deal went on to form The Breeders with twin sister Kelley, while Black pursued a critically acclaimed solo career. The Pixies reunited in 2004, greeted as returning heroes for a series of reunion shows, starting with their first concert in Minnesota, followed by a full tour of the US and Canada. They made numerous festival appearances and, in 2009, celebrated the 20th anniversary of Doolittle with a special tour. In 2013, Kim Deal departed the band, and the Pixies moved forward with new bassist Paz Lenchantin, releasing Indie Cindy (2014), their first album of new material in over two decades. This was followed by Head Carrier (2016), Beneath the Eyrie (2019), and Doggerel (2022), solidifying their place in the contemporary alt-rock scene. In 2024, Lenchantin exited the band, with Emma Richardson from Band of Skulls stepping in as their new bassist. That year, they released their ninth full-length album, The Night the Zombies Came, which was supported by the promotional singles "You're So Impatient," "Chicken," "Oyster Beds," and "Motoroller."