Pixies

For many, the Pixies peaked with their 1989 album, Doolittle. Boasting an astute mastery of the quiet-loud-quiet dynamic, Black Francis’ songwriting on that album clicked more than anywhere else in the group’s catalog: From the twisted opener “Debaser” to the bizarre “Monkey Gone To Heaven” and madcap “Crackity Jones,” Doolittle has a weird and ragged carefree nature—even though Francis actually clamped down harder and restricted his bandmates’ songwriting contributions afterward. Regardless of the band’s nasty breakup (Francis notified his bandmates via fax in 1993) and years spent in limbo, Doolittle’s legacy has remained untouchable. After reuniting in the mid-2000s, the band has focused on performing that album—including B-sides—in its entirety, which it is continuing to do on this tour in cities it missed the first time around.

Updated 10/26/2011