Pixies apologise for ‘Where Is My Mind’ turning off your phone alarm
Pixies have issued an apology to fans after it was revealed that their song ‘Where Is My Mind’ was turning off their phone alarms.
The iconic 1998 track was discovered to be wreaking havoc on some Google devices earlier this week, when one fan took to social media to explain how the track was inadvertently causing him to miss his morning alarms.
As detailed by one Reddit user on Monday (May 1), the start of the song was interfering with an update to Google’s recent Assistant update, which allowed users to turn off their alarms by saying “stop”.
However, the Assistant has been interpreting the start of ‘Where Is My Mind’ — the ‘Surfer Rosa’ track that opens with Black Francis abruptly stating “stop” — as a command from the user, and has been switching off users’ alarms in response.
“For the past few months, I could not figure out why on random days, with seemingly no reason, sometimes my alarm would either not go off, or turn itself off very quickly,” wrote the Redditor. “Well this morning, I woke up about 5 minutes before my alarm went off, and I have cracked the code.”
“The alarm is set to play a Spotify playlist, and one of the songs on that playlist is ‘Where is My Mind’ by the Pixies. If you know the first line of that song, you may know… the word ‘stop’ [is] said very clearly,” he added. “My Pixel has been hearing that ‘stop’ and turning the alarm off. Since it’s a playlist on shuffle, it only comes up every once in a while, so it’s not happening every morning.”
A YouTube channel called Android Police later confirmed the phenomenon, sharing footage of the moment in action. However, as reported by Stereogum, the same can’t be said for other songs that prominently feature the word “Stop”, including Jane’s Addiction’s ‘Stop’, The Supremes’ ‘Stop! In The Name Of Love”, Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ and both “U Can’t Touch This” and “Ice Ice Baby.”
Responding to the article shared by Android Police, the band behind the track have issued an apology to the Redditor and any other users affected, writing: “Sorry about that!”
Sorry about that! https://t.co/EtCQ2FPkIJ
— PIXIES (@PIXIES) May 3, 2023
In other Pixies news, earlier this year, the band announced a joint tour of North America with Modest Mouse and Cat Power.
Kicking off in Asbury Park, New Jersey on August 20, the tour will make stops in states including New York, Seattle, Indiana and Chicago, before finishing up in San Diego, California on September 16.
The post Pixies apologise for ‘Where Is My Mind’ turning off your phone alarm appeared first on NME.
Liberty Dunworth
NME