Pixies’ Black Francis: 5 Songs I Wish I Wrote
Indie-rock legend delves into pop, punk and prog roots


Pixies frontman Black Francis discusses his key songwriting influences, ranging from the Beatles to the Damned.
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Charles "Black Francis" Thompson is enjoying the creative rebirth of the Pixies, the brilliantly eccentric indie-rock band he's led on and off for 30 years. "This was feeling very much like our comeback record as opposed to [2014's] Indie Cindy, which felt like a transitional moment even when we were making it," he told Rolling Stone recently of the group's new LP, Head Carrier. In advance of his current tour with the group, he weighed in on some of his key songwriting influences.