December 2- 8, 2004

musicpicks

The Pixies

Rock/pop

Whether their long-awaited return is a blatant cash grab or a genuine desire to play together now that they've mellowed, The Pixies are just giving the people what they want. No new songs, no radical arrangements, no reworkings of later additions to Frank Black's and Kim Deal's resumes. Simply a barrage of dynamic alterna-hits from the much-mythologized early releases ("Nimrod's Son," "Gigantic" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven" are all but guaranteed), along with a smattering of material from the final chapters of their original volume ("Velouria," "U-Mass"). Considering they've cleared the vaults with radio sessions, demos, B-sides and a pair of best-ofs, taking to the road again was the one trick they had left (though it's suspiciously timed with the release of Frank Black Francis, which finds ol' Charles Thompson himself electro-fying the Pixies canon with Two Pale Boys). But if a fleet of posthumous collections hasn't hurt them any (and when your B-sides are as good as "Into the White" and "Weird at My School," you don't need to worry about oversaturation), there's little the Pixies could do to ruin their reputation. Playing to far larger crowds than they did back in their heyday—delighting oldheads and schooling the young'uns—can only make them stronger. Not to mention richer.

Sat.-Sun., Dec. 4-5, 8 p.m., $35, with The Datsuns and The Bennies, Tweeter Center, Mickle Blvd. and Riverside Dr., Camden, N.J., 215-336-2000.

—M.J. Fine