Pixies—a band that famously has never been embroiled in any drama, particularly with regard to its band members’ job security—announced earlier this week that their bassist Paz Lenchantin would be leaving the group. Even beyond the band’s history of issuing pink slips, their official announcement smacked of corporate termination posts on social media thanking their laid-off employees for all their hard work over the years. (The comments on the Instagram post were even turned off so as not to court speculation. I wonder if they know about r/thepixies…)
Lenchantin joined the lineup a decade ago when the band reformed to release 2014’s Indie Cindy, their first record since initially dissolving over a decade prior. The drama picked up a bit yesterday when the disgruntled (well, at least disappointed) former employee of Pixies LLC issued a statement to Rolling Stone clarifying that the split wasn’t amicable. “It has been a dream of dreams these past 10 years to have been accepted as a Pixie by the band and by fans and an honor to have contributed to the Pixies legacy,” she allegedly shared with the publication, though unfortunately I’ve evidently reached my limit of allotted views on the site and can’t verify. “My departure is a bit of a surprise to me as it is to many, but it looks like they have a solid plan figured out which in turn has pushed me to move onwards onto new projects that I am excited about.”
We’re also learning today that Pixies are bringing on Emma Richardson from the group Band of Skulls (shout out The Twilight Saga: New Moon: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) to fill in on bass duties. Catch the band on tour throughout most of the rest of the year at the dates listed below to conduct your own performance review on Richardson, and, more importantly, revisit the New Moon original soundtrack here.
