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9.0
90449
9.0 |
American Songwriter
The 12-song collection is a keeper because it re-embraces the resplendent interplay between masculine and feminine signatures, somewhat lost on Indie Cindy
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8.0
90452
8.0 |
Q
Black Francis’s hooks are strong enough to make up for the lack of freaky left-turns. Print edition only
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8.0
90453
8.0 |
Mojo
A colourful, catchy and quietly impassioned record. Print edition only
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8.0
90649
8.0 |
NME
The reunion of the century keeps on kicking
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7.0
90673
7.0 |
No Ripcord
It’s not Pixies as you’d like to remember them, but for the first time in years it sounds as if they’re actually enjoying themselves
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7.0
90537
7.0 |
PopMatters
With this return, they bring a breath of fresh air into modern rock music
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7.0
90555
7.0 |
All Music
While it feels like Pixies are still figuring out how to continue their legacy, Head Carrier's best moments suggest they're heading in the right direction
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6.0
90477
6.0 |
The Quietus
Head Carrier is 80% classic Pixies. But it turns out the missing 20% is as fundamental as oxygen is to air
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6.0
90504
6.0 |
Slant Magazine
Enjoying the Pixies’s sixth album, Head Carrier, is mostly a matter of managing expectations
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6.0
90506
6.0 |
Rolling Stone
Looser and less burdened by the past
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6.0
90450
6.0 |
The Skinny
Lenchantin, for her part, holds her own, especially on All I Think About Now, but her new colleagues need to rediscover the urgency and ambition that defined their best work if they’re ever going to match it
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6.0
90451
6.0 |
Uncut
Pixies doing recognisably Pixies things. Print edition only
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6.0
90446
6.0 |
The Arts Desk
Paz Leachantine clearly has no intention of sitting back and letting the old boys grab all the attention
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6.0
90447
6.0 |
Loud And Quiet
A self-conscious appropriation, it’s crucially done with taste, and comes off as a tribute to times gone by rather than a rip-off. “We were happy,” sings Francis. “That’s all I think about now”
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6.0
90448
6.0 |
The Music
Head Carrier proves a reshaped Pixies can work even when they're ripping their own records off. Might be time for some new tricks though
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6.0
90553
6.0 |
DIY
Their past is a double-edged sword, but that doesn’t prevent ‘Head Carrier’ from having its own unique strengths
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6.0
90529
6.0 |
The Independent
An altogether more convincing affair than 2014’s comeback album Indie Cindy
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6.0
90632
6.0 |
musicOMH
While it may not be a record to inspire the generations as their previous work did, there’s enough evidence that some of that old spark is still flickering
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6.0
90709
6.0 |
Clash
Though ‘Head Carrier’ is far from triumphant, it’s by no means a failure
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5.8
90445
5.8 |
Consequence Of Sound
Inching closer to the best version of today's Pixies one melody at a time
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5.5
90712
5.5 |
Pitchfork
A middling effort missing all kinds of dynamics the Pixies used to offer
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5.5
90675
5.5 |
Spectrum Culture
Despite the occasional glimmers, Head Carrier points to band that’s content to settle for adequacy when they used to be capable of achieving transcendence
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5.0
90444
5.0 |
Drowned In Sound
While it isn't necessarily fair to compare a veteran band to their earlier glory days, there should at least be something exciting to hold onto in a new release to justify its existence. Unfortunately, only die-hards need apply here.
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5.0
90459
5.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
There comes a point when the burning compulsion and creative vision of even the greatest artists quietly culminates in the equivalent of holding down a pretty sweet job
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5.0
90521
5.0 |
Exclaim
Sounds far more restrained and lifeless than it should be
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5.0
90557
5.0 |
A.V. Club
Head Carrier won’t anger hardcore fans—it’s too breezy for that—but it’s also not likely to excite them
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4.0
90561
4.0 |
The Guardian
At its worst, though, Head Carrier sounds like an act of self-plagiarism
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4.0
90618
4.0 |
The Observer
Not bad, but no late reflowering
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3.5
90478
3.5 |
Under The Radar
At best, Pixies are just the masters at a game that is no longer interesting
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3.0
91092
3.0 |
Tiny Mix Tapes
It offers virtually nothing differentiating it from any number of the lesser Frank Black-helmed vanity projects that have populated the outer ring of Pixies’ asteroid-belt legacy for over two decades
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