The Night the Zombies Came

You’re So Impatient rattles along like a lost mid-’60s garage-psychedelia nugget, but with a simmering fury that lurks unresolved. The near title track, Jane (The Night the Zombies Came) gives baroque chamber-pop a surreal cinematic twist, with its Morricone twang and offbeat “Jane!” chorus shouts.

‘The Night the Zombies Came’ isn’t an album for the uninspired or your average Joe – it’s a bible for the daydreaming visionary who finds beauty in the mundane.

The Night the Zombies Came is another surefooted step forward for them, an album on which they seem to have reconciled their past and are determined, with their new lineup, to forge a new direction.

This most thrillingly deathly of bands remains alive. [Dec 2024, p.90]

This album drops its bombs with honed precision, the band's experience evident as both the key musical genres - loud and quiet - are deployed with scorching smarts. [Nov 2024, p.77]

The Night the Zombies Came is at its best when the band leans into the drama that has always made them stand out from the crowd. "Chicken" is one such moment, a sidewinding mood piece that swings between pride and desperation as wildly as Santiago's twanging, squalling fretwork. However, the album's brightest gem is "Jane (The Night the Zombies Came)."

By now, fans should be used to Black’s shape-shifting nature (is it Black Francis, Frank Black, or plain old Charles Thompson?), which is on full display here. Just as we all gravitate toward a Frank Black solo release or two, listeners might just prefer The Night the Zombies Came over others. At the very least, they will enjoy some signature moments, perhaps finally accepting that nothing will compare to the original thing.

It’s light, supple and tender, full of balladry and spacey (almost psychedelic) arrangements that seek to soothe and soften your mood rather than make you want to breathe fire (as their early work was wont to do). Unfortunately, it also challenges Indie Cindy for the unfortunate title of ‘most inconsistent Pixies album’ – it is, however, better than that record.

Ultimately, The Night the Zombies Came probably won’t live up to the expectations of fans wanting to relive the glory of Pixies in their prime, but it also shows flashes of their authentic sound that prove the band still have the ability to capture the essence of what makes Pixies so captivating and is a positive nod to the band’s enduring legacy.

Like all of the band’s reunion releases, The Night The Zombies Came is a mixed bag overall. Some heavier offerings, slightly off-kilter rock, acoustic strums, and larger sounds add to the musical range. It ends up as a serviceable rock record that never sniffs the heights of their early career classic output.

It is difficult to argue, however, that the second batch of Pixies records have been as thick on quality. It’s a trend that The Night The Zombies Came does little to buck – though the spectacular surf-psychedelia of “Motoroller” could have made Bossanova, and the glorious thrash of “Oyster Beds” snuck onto Trompe Le Monde. [Dec 2024, p.37]

It's the details, such as Joey Santiago's feisty guitar licks and Francis's unpredictable lyricism that steer the gentler material from the middle of the road. [Nov 2024, p.101]

If a track is below three minutes, it’ll be a modest barnburner that fizzles too fast, and if it’s above that, then you’re in for Black Francis impersonating a middle school vocal recital. .... When the distortion is flowing like beer on V-E Day, The Night the Zombies Came proves to be a modest party record, beneath the fat.