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EP2 (Pixies EP)

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EP2
EP by
Pixies
ReleasedJanuary 3, 2014 (2014-01-03)
Recorded2013
GenreAlternative rock, indie rock
Length14:10
ProducerGil Norton
Pixies chronology
EP1
(2013) 		EP2
(2014) 		EP3
(2014)

EP2[1] is the second EP in a series of EPs released by American alternative rock band Pixies, released on January 3, 2014.[2]

Composition and recording

Black Francis described his inspiration for the song "Blue Eyed Hexe": "The song took on different forms, different music and different sets of lyrics. It went through a lot of changes before it settled where it is now. It's a tale from the northwest of the country and it's a witch-woman kind of a song. That's what a hexe is. And she's a blue-eyed hexe!"[3]

Black Francis wrote "Greens and Blues" with the intention of creating "a better 'Gigantic'" – something that would "musically, emotionally and psychologically – sit in the same place that Gigantic has sat" and serve as a "show-closer."[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic54/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[6]
Consequence of SoundC−[7]
Drowned in Sound7/10[8]
Mojo[9]
NME8/10[10]
Pitchfork2.0/10[11]
Popmatters[12]
Punknews[13]
Rolling Stone[14]
Sputnikmusic2.8/5[15]

Like EP1, EP2 received mostly negative reviews and was sometimes compared unfavorably to the band's earlier work. In a 2.0/10 review for Pitchfork, Jayson Greene described the two EPs as "an increasingly mournful asterisk affixed to a beloved legacy". Greene gave modest praise to "Magdalena" which he wrote "sounds, passingly, like a lesser track from Bossanova or Teenager of the Year", but panned "Blue Eyed Hexe", writing "[Black Francis] screams like a Brian Johnson imitator over a foursquare riff with no wit or play in it, the clonking woodblock hitting like a kid brother socking you repeatedly in the arm."[11] John Dolan from Rolling Stone wrote that EP2 "feels like a faint echo of the band's later albums".[14]

Mark Beaumont at NME gave the EP a positive review, writing that the four tracks "eschew any attempt to recreate the breathless brutalities of Doolittle or Surfer Rosa and instead move Pixies boldly on". Beaumont praised "Blue Eyed Hexe" for recreating "the menace of Pixies’ early work" and described "Greens and Blues" as "the most grab-at-the-sky Big Pop moment the new EPs have produced so far".[10] Marc Burrows' review for Drowned in Sound was also generally positive, noting "what constitutes feeling their way back for the Pixies would be mightily impressive for a lesser band".[8]

Track listing

  1. "Blue Eyed Hexe" – 3:12
  2. "Magdalena 318" – 3:25
  3. "Greens and Blues" – 3:47
  4. "Snakes" – 3:46

Personnel

Pixies
Additional personnel

References

  1. ^ Discogs – Pixies – EP2 Images
  2. ^ "Pixies release surprise 'EP2' – listen". Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  3. ^ "EP-2 – Track by Track". Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  4. ^ "Pixies' new release EP-2 oozes Blue-Eyed Hexe appeal". The Guardian. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  5. ^ "Critical Reviews for Pixies – EP2". Metacritic. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  6. ^ Phares, Heather. "EP2 – Pixies". AllMusic. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  7. ^ Arroyo, Steven (January 13, 2014). "Pixies – EP-1 and EP-2". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  8. ^ a b Burrows, Marc (January 7, 2014). "Pixies: EP2". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on January 10, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  9. ^ "Pixies: EP-2 Review". Mojo: 96. March 2014.
  10. ^ a b Horner, Al (January 3, 2014). "Pixies – 'EP2'". NME. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Greene, Jayson (January 10, 2014). "Pixies: EP-2". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  12. ^ Tryneski, John M. (March 16, 2014). "Pixies: EP2". PopMatters. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  13. ^ Greg (Staff) (January 26, 2014). "Pixies: EP2 (2014): SELF-RELEASED". Punknews.org. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  14. ^ a b Dolan, Jon (January 14, 2014). "Pixies: EP 2". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  15. ^ Joseph Viney (January 3, 2014). "Pixies – EP2". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  16. ^ "PIXIES RELEASE SECOND EP OF NEW MATERIAL". Retrieved January 9, 2014.
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