Miss The Pixies? Try Philly’s Tender Vision
It’s funny to hear a band sing about missing The Pixies when they’re headlining the Electric Factory in Philadelphia next week. But I get it – local fuzz-pop duo Tender Vision misses more the idea of The Pixies, the creative spark and chemistry that existed in the first run of the band in the late 80s / early 90s. So they’re doing their best to capture it in their own music.
The very new band is made up of Adrianne Gold, former singer/guitarist in Catnaps and bassist William Sallee along with a handful of live collaborators, and in the past week the duo has released two songs. Most recently was the silly and straightforward rocker “I Hate Change,” which came out in a playful video on YouTube yesterday. With a deadpan delivery, Gold sings “Kim, why did you leave me and The Pixies? / Kim, why did you leave me? I miss The Pixies.”
That’s about the entirety of the song’s lyrics, though some sweet “Gigantic”-referencing “ooohs” come in the mix on the bridge. And while it’s kind of an overt nod to Deal, Black, Santiago and Lovering more than a full-fledged song unto itself, it’s nonetheless fun to watch Sallee and Gold bounce around a room to the beat, waving sparklers at the camera and swapping costumes.
A better choice – and more genuinely infused with The Pixies spirit – is “Just Kill Me,” the single Tender Vision released on Bandcamp last week. It’s got airy fuzz guitar lines and a generous helping of JAMC vocal reverb, plus some delightful call and response. There’s a melancholy tone to the lyrics (“Do you still dream that you’re drowning? / Do you dream at all?”) but an uplifting melody and toe-tapping beat carries across a quick minute and 43 seconds.
Listen to “Just Kill Me” and watch the video for “I Hate Change” below, and find out more about Tender Vision at the band’s Facebook page.