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Band:The Pixies DVD:loud Quiet loud Released by:Music Video Dist. Writer: Sherri Carras Media: MVD mini site Click Album Cover To Buy Now

The Pixies, Loud Quiet Loud, DVD is almost uncomfortable to watch. This is a group of four people absolutely miserable to be in the same room with each other for more than necessary. The DVD is filled with long silences in between individual interviews, and shows clips. The title is very apt here, although it should almost be reversed, as these people don’t talk to each other, let alone communicate.

The DVD starts off with a quote from Kurt Cobain of Nirvana: “I was basically trying to rip off The Pixies.” Even if you’re not all that familiar with The Pixies, the bands they influenced, such as Nirvana, and many other ‘alternative’ bands from the 90’s are probably in your collection. The documentary takes you from the early stages of The Pixies reunion, when Black Francis (Charles Thompson) speaks with Marc Beaumont of NME Magazine about the possibility. From there it progresses to the band regrouping. There’s Joey Santiago, David Lovering, and Kim Deal. They were all in a rather troubled, sad state in their lives, so the prospect of a reunion tour sounded great in the beginning. Things go downhill from there, in a quiet sort of way.

The film really needs to be watched in order to get the full impact. There are times when you feel sorry for them, especially for David Lovering, who lost his father while on tour, and turns to alcohol and medications to ease the pain. If your eyes don’t tear up at that point, you’re not human. Kim Deal is a typical recovering alcoholic, and seems like a recovering drug addict, as well, although that’s not made clear in the DVD. She needs to have her entire family on tour with her just to stay stable. Joey Santiago does movie scores on the side, and seems to be the most well-adjusted of all of them, but he looks so forlorn during most of the documentary, you wonder how he’s not just snapping in two. Charles Thompson has gotten very fat, and very bitter. Every word out of his mouth drips with frustration that he’s constantly defined by The Pixies. It’s hard to feel sorry for him, because he comes across as that guy who succeeded at something, and is pissed off because now he can’t do something new without it being compared to that success. Boo fucking hoo.

Ultimately, by the end of the DVD you’re glad to say goodbye to the group. I felt myself cringing, waiting for a knock down drag out fight to ensue, but the group is so wound up in themselves that they can’t even communicate that way. It’s very sad, especially since all the members have so much potential left. Charles Thomson tours under Frank Black, and Kim Deal could work with her twin sister again in The Breeders. Joey Santiago has movie scores to fall back on. David Lovering is the only one that looks ready for a fall into true obscurity, but it may be good for him. The tour seemed to suck a lot of the life back out of him. All the members looked tired and drawn, and relieved, by the end of the DVD. How a group could make such great music together, and not be able to talk to each other, is still a mystery to me, and I’ve watched this DVD three times through now.

As for the technical aspects, the DVD is set up for easy navigation. There’s not a lot of bonus material to it, but what’s there is good for the pure fan. The deleted scenes were interesting to watch, but I’m glad they left them out of the final cut, because the documentary would have dragged with them in. Watching the DVD with audio commentary on gives you a little different perspective, and I think a fan would get a lot out of it.

For the fan, this is going to be a must have for their collection. Even if you’re not familiar with The Pixies, this is a DVD I would recommend watching. It’s fascinating just on a human level to watch these people struggle to be around each other. It’s a character study as much as a documentary, and very well done. You will walk away examining your own relationships after watching The Pixies: loud Quiet loud.

Band:The Pixies DVD:loud Quiet loud Released by:Music Video Dist. Writer: Sherri Carras Media: MVD mini site Click Album Cover To Buy Now

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