Over three decades after famously alluding to Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s groundbreaking art film Un Chien Andalou on the raucous opening track to 1989’s Doolittle, Pixies have returned to their roots with the surrealist new single, “Dregs Of The Wine.”
Anchored by a rhythmic bass riff reminiscent of the band’s early output, “Dregs Of The Wine” marks the first writing credit for longtime guitarist Joey Santiago. “I guess I was in kind of a zombie state, just playing,” he said in a release, discussing how the song came to be. “After I stopped playing, I put [my guitar] down and went, ‘Well, that was a fucking waste of time, what a piece of shit I am.’ I beat myself up a lot, but my girlfriend, unbeknownst to me, was recording me. She played it back to me, and I go, ‘Fuck! Hold on a second here! This stuff is good!’”
In true Pixies fashion, the song is peppered with pop culture references to Van Halen and Redd Foxx, accompanied by frontman Black Francis’ esoteric lyrics about lion tamers, dropping acid and the Hollywood sign delivered in his signature speak-singing style. “Living in Los Angeles in the ‘90s with my then-wife, hanging out with Joey and his ex-wife,” Francis said of the song’s inspiration in a release. “Lots of trips to Las Vegas, a lot of drinking, little bit drug taking, some genuine good times.”
“Dregs Of The Wine” is the latest release from the alt-rock icons’ forthcoming album, Doggerel — which drops Sept. 30 — following “There’s a Moon On” and “Vault of Heaven.” Earlier this year, the band also released the standalone single, “Human Crime,” accompanied by a video directed by the band’s current bassist Paz Lenchantin. In June, Pixies also released a short film documenting their experiences recording Doggerel while shacked up in Vermont.
The band will embark on a short tour in support of Doggerel through the end of the year, with stops planned for the United States, South America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The short U.S. tour kicks off Oct. 1 in San Diego.
PIXIES FALL 2022 U.S. TOUR DATES
October 1 – San Diego, Calif. @ SOMA
October 2 – Anaheim, Calif. @ House of Blues
October 3 – Los Angeles @ The Wiltern
October 5 – New York City @ Terminal 5