Loudquietloud: A Film About the Pixies by Pixies : Reviews and Ratings - Rate Your Music

I ve been a huge Pixies fan for years, so of course I was excited when this came out and bought it immediately. This documentary film shows behind the scenes of the Pixies reformation tour of 2004 and it s a real fly-on-the-wall experience. The band members are obviously aware of the cameras and to a certain extent they seem to hold back a little, but this band is famous for their lack of communication anyway so their are many back-stage frosty moments that seem to confirm this widely-held conception.

None of the Pixies members have enjoyed the same level of success since the band broke up. Charles Thompson has released several records as a solo artist (Frank Black, Frank Black and the Catholics) and Kim Deal in the bands The Breeders and The Amps, which have all enjoyed moderate success, but nothing like the fanatic adoration the Pixies enjoyed.

In addition to communication problems, there are substance abuse issues.

Kim Deal requested that there be no alcohol backstage on the tour, and she brought her sister Kellie along for moral support. Kim seems to have been a little messed up by years of drug-taking, and it s a sad thing to see as she is still chain-smoking and sneaking beers, at one point justifying it by saying the beer is less than 5% alcohol, to which her sister says Most beers are under 5%! The tension is palpable, as is the sadness.

Drummer David Lovering, who has become a magician in the years following the Pixies demise, succumbs to a Valium problem after hearing the death of his father. He messes up on stage at one point, playing on well after the end of a song, and the band walks off stage in annoyance. Lovering mutters something about the foldback monitors not working, and follows the band into the wings.

They confront him back stage about his problem, but with compassion instead of hostility, and he agrees to do something about it.

Guitarist Joey Santiago has a young family whom he speaks to every night via internet/webcam. He s scoring a soundtrack for a friends documentary and seems to have his shit together.

Charles is shopping a new Frank Black record rather pessimistically to major labels like Sony, and you get the feeling he s pissed off that his solo work doesn t get the same response as the Pixies do. Charles s ego always struggled with the amount of adulation that Kim received, and that was apparent in the way he originally broke the band up - without telling any of the other band members. Soon, he hears that his new wife is pregnant, which brings muchly-needed good vibes into the camp.

It s like a dysfunctional family re-union, where people obviously love and care for each other, yet struggle to show it due to past issues. The whole thing seems to become more functional, however, once the tour gets rolling; at least the film seems to give that impression, and whilst the whole situation is less than ideal, no doubt the huge critical (and financial) success of the tour would have made amends.

Overall, the film is an impressive document of a legendary band facing their own individual demons as well as each other to reform; and though the obvious motivator here is money, it s wonderful to see a whole new generation of fans fall in love with the Pixies, whose music is superb.

Their performances are not always immaculate, but you get the sense that eventually their collective heart is really in this venture, obviously lured by the financial benefit, but perhaps also a sense of purpose and creative satisfaction.