You’d think after nearly 30 years as one of indie rock’s most influential bands that Pixies would be used to bad reviews by now, but you’d be wrong.
Turns that out a negative review on Pitchfork of the Pixies’ comeback release EP-1 , their first collection of new material in nearly 20 years bar a few one-off singles, has been eating away at guitarist Joey Santiago since it was first published on the tastemaking website last September.
The write-up by Pitchfork scribe Jayson Greene pans the four-track Pixies release, awarding at a paltry 1/10 score, concluding it’s a “minor tragedy that it was released, and it’s almost enough to make me wish the reunion… never happened.”
Other scathing cuts from the review include labelling EP-1’s “utterly anonymous sound” shocking; “this music wasn’t just written or recorded without any regard to the quality of the Pixies legacy, it was done so without regard to songwriting quality at all.”
But Santiago did some slamming of his own in a recent interview with RVA Magazine, FasterLouder reports, calling Greene “an idiot”, “an asshole”, and “a dick”. “You don’t even deserve to be a music critic at that point… [It] just seems like you hate everything.”
The idiot probably didn’t even listen to it. Maybe for a second, or just a half-assed listen in the background,” Santiago says. “I mean, how could you slam something like that and not find anything good about the music? You don’t even deserve to be a music critic at that point. At that point, it seems like you don’t even like music at all. Just seems like you hate everything.”
The Pixies member also suggests that the 1/10 takedown was probably a publicity stunt to help in “getting readers or getting notice or publicity or whatever,” he says. “That’s Pitchfork and I know it’s kind of what they’re known for, but I think it was a joke.
“Jesus Christ, the guy probably would have slammed Picasso when he went through his cubism stage,” Santiago continues of Greene. “What an asshole. He just seems to enjoy destroying music which is the exact opposite of what I want to do. I want to create. He wants to destroy. Guy’s a dick. Let me know where that fucker lives, all right?” he jokes.
It’s not the first time the very same Pitchfork writer has been called out on his critical evaluation. Last month, Jayson Greene was the target of some rather intense online attacks by Mobb Deep MC Prodigy, the difference being that it was over a glowing review for a reissue of the rap group’s 1995 album The Infamous, earning a perfect 10/10 score from the reviewer.
It’s also the latest in a wave of high-profile musos crying foul over bad press; including Motörhead bitterly blasting a Coachella reviewer (and even encouraging their fans to do the same), The Cure’s Robert Smith penning an aggressive ALL CAPS rant aimed at a writer of The Guardian bored by the band’s epic three-hour charity benefit shows.
Then there was Lorde defending LA-via-Sydney rapper Iggy Azalea against the “spineless” music media, and closer to home, The Jezabels singer Haley Mary telling music reviewers to “fucking get a real job” instead of peddling negativity.
All which might have us at Tone Deaf a little nervy over our chiefly positive review of Pixies’ latest album Indie Cindy, calling it a “far cry from the classic Pixies sound” but awarding it a 6/10. There’s really no need to watch our collective backs when Pixies land in Australia this May to play their three-night residency as part of Vivid LIVE 2014 …is there?
Pixies @ Vivid LIVE 2014
PIXIES
DATE: 23 – 26 May | VENUE: Concert Hall | TICKET PRICE: from $69
http://vividlive.sydneyoperahouse.com/
