Pixies Release New EP, ‘EP-1′ + ‘Indie Cindy’ Video

The Pixies are back with a new EP, 'EP-1,' their first collection of new music in more than two decades. The four-song set, announced early this morning and already up for sale on the band's website, arrives in much the same fashion as 'Bag Boy,' the surprise comeback single the alt-rock godheads released back in June. 'EP-1' is available digitally and on 10-inch limited-edition vinyl, and a pair of special packages include t-shirts designed by cover artist Vaughan Oliver.

In addition to 'EP-1,' the Pixies have premiered a video for the tune 'Indie Cindy' (watch it below), and as with 'Bag Boy,' it's a violent and unsettling clip directed by LAMAR+NIK. Sections of the noirish narrative play out in reverse, and the story centers on a young woman who conspires with a hooded man to drug and murder her boyfriend.

Recorded with longtime Pixies collaborator Gil Norton in Wales in October 2012, 'EP-1' features Frank Black on guitar and vocals, Joey Santiago on lead guitar and David Lovering on drums. Subbing for original bassist Kim Deal, who announced her departure in June, is someone credited as "Ding," while Jeremy Dubs, whose deceptively Deal-like voice can be heard on 'Bag Boy,' provides background vocals.

'EP-1' opens with 'Andro Queen,' a spacey jam Black says in a press released he based on 'The Great Pretender,' a chart-topping hit for the Platters in 1956. The second song, 'Another Toe,' "started out as a kind of psychedelic, environmentally concerned song," Black explains, but like many a Pixies classic, it morphed into something "far more abstract." Partially recorded in a hotel room, track three, 'Indie Cindy,' is what Black calls "one of our epic songs."

"It feels like the cornerstone for this body of work," he says. "I feel very confident about the lyrics and the music."

Closing out the set is 'What Goes Boom,' a combustible exercise in apt naming Lovering likens to Pixies ragers of yore.

"It’s kind of a ballsy song with real balls-out playing and it harkens back to a lot of the harder-edged Pixies stuff, which is my favorite stuff to play," Lovering says. "Anything like this, the punk stuff or fast, is just fun to play."

The Pixies have tour dates scheduled throughout the fall, and before heading to Riot Fest in Chicago, they'll kick things off with a four-show run in Los Angeles beginning on Sept. 9.

Watch the Pixies' Video for 'Indie Cindy'