Having perfected a devastating new brand of US alt.rock in the accelerated space of four years, Pixies appeared to be spent by the time of Trompe Le Monde. Bassist Kim Deal had already formed The Breeders during the band’s brief hiatus, while frontman/songwriter Black Francis was busy planning for a solo career.
Teaming up with regular producer Gil Norton for one final hurrah, the quartet of Francis, Deal, lead guitarist Joey Santiago and drummer David Lovering nevertheless hurtled through Trompe Le Monde at customary pace. There were, however, key differences from the past. Less reliant on the polar dynamics that had defined previous landmarks Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, and certainly more energised than its immediate predecessor Bossanova, the album instead felt like a valedictory salute from a belligerent garage-metal band. Santiago gleefully called it “guitar hell”.
