The Pixies split up in 1992 with more than a whiff of unfinished business, and when they reformed in 2004 for the ironically titled "Pixies Sell Out" tour, Steven Cantor and Matthew Galkin were on hand to capture something far more dazzling than the standard concert doc. In their first incarnation, the Pixies' offstage relations were as combustible as the revolutionary power chords hinted at in the film's title, and it was sad but not surprising when Charles Thompson (a.k.a. Black Francis) announced their split without consulting the rest of the band. What followed was a hardly comfortable retirement. New bands met with diminishing success; hobbies turned into main attractions, like David Levering's magic act; and personal struggles were brought to light, like Kim Deal's fight with substance abuse. Their lingering animosity led the members to initially view the reunion tour as little more than a long overdue paycheck. But a funny thing happened on the tour bus: Where once there was angst, now there is perspective. The directors so deftly illuminate the band's inner turmoil and its triumph on tour and beyond, that rather than damaging the escapist allure of the music, what comes pouring out of the amps is not just a wall of sound, but catharsis as well. loudQUIETloud builds on the legend of the Pixies not by solidifying their mythology as rock gods, but by painting a beautifully human portrait of four people who, whether they like it or not, might be better off with one another than without.

Steven Cantor and Matthew Galkin