Pixies test your patience with ‘You’re So Impatient,’ ‘Que Sera, Sera’ double A-sided single
The songs come out ahead of a tour with Modest Mouse this summer.
By Kory Grow
The total irony of coupling a new song titled ‘You’re So Impatient’ with a gloomy rendition of ‘Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)’ — and releasing them as a double A-sided single, giving each sentiment equal weight — might be the most Pixiesest act Pixies have committed in 20 years. The tunes, which will come out as a seven-inch on July 19, are the first recordings since bassist Emma Richardson replaced Paz Lenchantin earlier this year.
Side A, the First, ‘You’re So Impatient’, is a meditation on anxiousness, squeezed perfectly inside two minutes — because who’s really patient enough for a two-and-a-half–minute song? Thank goodness, drummer David Lovering keeps a patient enough pace for Black Francis to sing the chorus, “You’re so impatient/You finish it and then you start,” with enough space for it stick in your head and leave room for Joey Santiago’s guitar solo (heralded by Francis singing, “Here comes my favourite part”).
“‘You’re So Impatient’ is a slightly comedic suburban culture moment: There’s this guy, there’s this gal, there’s this tug-of-love dynamic going on,” Francis said in a statement. “But the backdrop is the mall. And while the mall is crass, it’s also a very zombie, rock ‘n’ roll horror movie setting.”
Side A the Second, ‘Que Sera Sera’, is exactly what you’d expect from Pixies: A hopeless rendition of Doris Day’s hopeful hit. Black Francis sounds ready to accept that what will be will likely be depressing as his bandmates slog their way through a muted version of the song’s iconic lilting melody. “Will we have rainbows day after day?” Definitely not, from the sound of Francis’ and Richardson’s laconic delivery of the lyrics and Santiago’s tremulous solos. It’s all so doleful that they manage to wring a full other minute out of the tune, which ran two minutes when Day sang it, proving they have patience after all.
The group will be on tour this summer, co-headlining with Modest Mouse, to spread all of the good cheer, but they won’t be hitting the road until August. They’re testing their fans’ patience.