Pixies - Demos - The Purple Tape '87

The legendary Purple Tapes—the first-ever Pixies recordings from 1987—are officially reissued with new artwork and liner notes chronicling the early history of the band. Capturing a raw and restless energy, these demos showcase a group on the cusp of reshaping alternative rock.

Featuring the original recordings of “Here Comes Your Man,” “Broken Face,” “Down To The Well,” and “Rock A My Soul,” Demos offers an unvarnished look at the beginnings of one of the most influential bands of the late 1980s.

Formed in Boston in 1986, Pixies went on to inspire a generation of artists including Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and Radiohead. As Joel McIver notes in the 2025 liner notes, “These songs complete the picture of where the Pixies began, while hinting broadly at where they would end up – as a band very much unto their own.”