Pixies

Pixies formed in Boston in 1986 around Black Francis (vocals, guitar) and Joey Santiago, joined by Kim Deal on bass and David Lovering on drums. Their loud-quiet-loud dynamics, surreal lyrics of violence and biblical strangeness, and surf-inflected riffs on albums like Surfer Rosa (1988), Doolittle (1989) and Bossanova (1990) reshaped alternative rock, directly influencing Nirvana, Radiohead and the Smashing Pumpkins. Francis split the band by fax in 1993; a 2004 reunion restored the original lineup for extensive touring. Deal left again in 2013, replaced by Paz Lenchantin, but the band's catalog remains a foundational text for noise-pop and dynamic-shift songwriting.