Gentler Pixies still bring it on 'Indie Cindy'

Blame the cruelties of time, a kinder companion to the stateliness of blues than to the unruly impulses of alt-rock. Indie Cindy (three stars out of four), the Pixies' first studio album in 23 years, finds the band in an appropriately mellower space, and their mature restraint is the chief drawback to a solid, competent album.

A few tunes explode with the thunder and spleen the band was famous for, but others, lacking the Pixies' signature kinks, are tame and uncharacteristically conventional. A heavy sheen of studio lacquer overlays the entire set. Further diminishing this comeback: Bassist Kim Deal is absent, and all tracks were issued on three recent EPs.

That said, a declawed Pixies still clobbers most of today's indie army, and the legendary band manages to uphold its legacy without resorting to lazy replays, gimmicks or nostalgia. In any genre, that's aging gracefully.

Download:What Goes Boom, Blue Eyed Hexe, Greens and Blues