"Having perfected a devastating new brand of US alt.rock in the accelerated space of four years, Pixies appeared to be spent by the time of Trompe Le Monde. Bassist Kim Deal had already formed The Breeders during the band’s brief hiatus, while frontman/songwriter Black Francis was busy planning for a solo career.

Teaming up with regular producer Gil Norton for one final hurrah, the quartet of Francis, Deal, lead guitarist Joey Santiago and drummer David Lovering nevertheless hurtled through Trompe Le Monde at customary pace. There were, however, key differences from the past. Less reliant on the polar dynamics that had defined previous landmarks Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, and certainly more energised than its immediate predecessor Bossanova, the album instead felt like a valedictory salute from a belligerent garage-metal band. Santiago gleefully called it “guitar hell”.

Pixies hardly draw breath for the first 15 minutes. The urgent title track sets the tone, amplified by the sheer ferocity of Planet Of Sound. Driven by a wondrously malicious riff, it’s classic Pixies, with a screeching Francis adopting the persona of an alien searching for the source of intercepted sound from somewhere out in the cosmos. For all its sci-fi connotations, the central theme is a celebration of the unique powers of rock‘n’roll."-

- Rich Hobson, Louder