Pixies Reissue Bossanova and Trompe le Monde, Unearthing Steve Albini’s “Dig for Fire” and Other Rarities

Pixies continue their 40th anniversary run with newly remastered vinyl and CD editions of the band’s final two pre-breakup albums — 1990’s Bossanova and 1991’s Trompe le Monde — arriving September 11 via 4AD. The real draw sits inside the limited Dinked International Editions, each bundled with a 7-inch single that brings previously unheard recordings to light for the first time.

The Bossanova pressing comes on oxblood vinyl and includes a two-track 7-inch anchored by the late Steve Albini’s version of “Dig for Fire.” Cut in late 1987 during the Surfer Rosa sessions, the recording captures the song before it became a charting single on Billboard’s Modern Rock tally. The B-side, “Go Man Go,” pairs Black Francis and Kim Deal, co-written around the Bossanova and Last Splash era but only rediscovered when the session tapes were pulled for this project. Kevin Vanbergen handled the remasters for both albums.

The Trompe le Monde edition appears on sky blue vinyl with a 7-inch holding “Brackish Boy” and “Punk Loop,” two tracks Vanbergen found while reviewing the album’s original tapes. Where Bossanova nudged the band back toward the rawer edges of Surfer Rosa, Trompe le Monde stood as Pixies’ final statement with Deal and its last long-player before the group’s early dissolution. Both sets of unearthed songs come from working masters, not sketchbook ideas, which gives the reissues a sort of archival spine that standard anniversary packages lack.

The band plays European and UK dates this summer before a September US run. These releases do more than just circle a milestone. Pulling actual unheard material from the vault changes the shape of a catalog that’s already been combed over for decades.