Friday, May 21, 2010

#315: Surfer Rosa- The Pixies

Listened to: MP3

Ah, The Pixies first album. Who are The Pixies, you ask? Only one of the most influential bands of the late 80’s. Influenced who, you ask? Well, Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, and pretty much any alternative band thereafter. You don’t listen to “hipster” bands, you say? Ugh. Ok, are you a tool? Yes? Ok, then you know them as “that song at the end of “Fight Club”. Yeah, you liked that movie, right? ‘Cause it was cool how they hit each other, right? Ok, good. Now, the grown-ups are gonna discuss good music. Run along and get sterilized, now.


Surfer Rosa brought the world Black Francis’ song-writing, a blend of soft and loud, rock and pop, howling and whispering, kick-ass and…just kick-ass. The album opens on “Bone Machine”, and it’s a great feeling to just imagine what it was like putting the needle down on this record for the first time, before it was a classic. Hearing David Lovering’s pounding drums, Black Francis yelling and wailing, and hearing Kim Deal’s slightly off yet so perfect harmonies. Just listen to that almost cacophony that drops out for the calm “Your bone’s got a little machine”. This opened up a whole new world of song-writing, friends. Nothing would smell like teen anything were it not for songs like this. Track number 2, “Break My Body”, shows how perfectly Black could craft a simple pop song, and then decide to mask all that pop in distorted vocals and guitars, and do it so perfectly as to create something even better. This is rock and roll. This is violent, nasty, gritty, while still being indie, and unique, and breaking the molds just as it fills into them.


“Something Against You” is a frenetic free for all of guitar sounds. You have Sex Pistols punk meets Sublime upstrokes, while Francis’ vocals were recorded through a guitar amp, giving it that sick, growling, indecipherable sound. This, of course, was brilliant producer Steve Albini’s idea. You remember him from Rid Of Me, don’t you? “Broken Face” keeps the punk feel from the last track, but now goes for a bizarre, high pitched chorus, and the concern on the vocals is not so much to make notes as to make noise. Many bands try this and sound like shit, but The Pixies, under the guidance of Albini, make masterpieces.


“Gigantic” is the only song on the album not by Black Francis. It is written and sung by bassist Kim Deal, and due to this the song takes on a much more pop feel. Maybe it’s just because her vocals are cleaner than Francis’, but that doesn’t make the song any less great than any other on the album. The song repeats the same bass line, supposedly influenced by Lou Reed. It’s about a girl watching a black man have sex with another woman. You can guess why it’s called “Gigantic”. “River Euphrates” sounds very similar to the type of material that would appear on their next album, 1989’s Doolittle, but quite frankly, once you’ve heard this album a few times, “River Euphrates” is just 2:33 you kill before the next track, the most popular off of the album, and one of the tracks that even your most “mainstream” friends know by The Pixies.


Yes, let’s get this out of the way, “Where Is My Mind?” was at the end of Fight Club. Yes, they used in in an HBO commercial for The Dark Knight. But all that goes away when you hear “Stop!” Then you’re just engrossed in the song. Francis said he was inspired by a small fish chasing him in the Caribbean. I’m not sure how on led to the other, but thank god it did. The structure of the song, the chords, the melody, even the “ooos” in the background, everything on this song is great. Bizarre, creepy, indie, rock and roll, pop perfection. Every note the guitar plays strikes a sonic blow to your mind, and the jarring drop-out, with just the echoing “oo” at the end is terrific. Undoubtedly, one of the best songs on the 80’s (then again, I hate the 80’s). “Cactus”, a song I first heard on Bowie’s Heathen album, is another example of the mix of soft and loud vocals The Pixies are famous for. The verses of this song are hidden behind pounding bass, guitar and drums, and only when Kim Deal comes in do you even know there’s singing happening. At the mid-point, they spell out Pixies (Bowie spelled out David on his record), though that’s something you don’t even notice till your third or fourth listen. Well, now you’ll notice it. Sorry I ruined that for you.


Here’s one of my favorites on the album, “Tony’s Theme”. Just for the way the scream out “To-ny!” for the chorus. It just seems like it had to be so much fun to play. “Oh My Golly” is the track that gave the album it’s title, with the lyric “Besando chichando con surfer rosa.” Yes, they are speaking in Spanish and then shouting “Oh My Golly”. there is no way to explain the elements of this song and make it sound as awesome as it is. By all logic, it shouldn’t work, but it does. “Oh My Golly” has one of the best bass lines and best choruses of any song on this album, and is one of it’s true highlights, especially with that drum and bass interlude towards the end. At the end of “Oh My Golly”, you hear Black explaining something Kim said in the studio. Albini tacked it on thinking it would sound cool. He later regretted it, proving even gifted producers make mistakes.


(That still doesn’t excuse Phil Spector)


“Vamos” is one of the more erratic tracks on the album, but once again, when Kim’s back-ups come on, the song becomes infectiously catchy. Try not to bounce around to that bass line. I dare you. Again, this song shouldn’t work, but god damn it, it does. You never hear something like this on a studio album. Maybe live, when the guitarist is drunk and fucking around, but never on a studio album. You say that a lot while listening to Surfer Rosa, and that’s what makes it so unique.


“I’m Amazed” (which begins with Kim explaining how a teacher from her school got fired for being “into field hockey players”) and “Brick Is Red” go on to confirm the point I’ve been trying to make in this review, which is that The Pixies genius comes not from rebelling against or pandering to mainstream music, but fusing alternative styles of playing recording, and applying them to songs which at their core are pop.


Without a doubt, The Pixies are one of the most influential bands in recent memory, and if their sold out reunion shows prove anything, it’s that they may finally be getting their due. The band is unique, incredibly talented, and certainly worth a listen. Surfer Rosa is a genius album, and maybe some folks won’t dig it, but if I’ve turned at least one person on to these guys, I’ve done my job on this blog. So give Surfer Rosa a listen. I don’t think you’ll regret it.


-Mike


See you next for #83: I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You by Aretha Franklin. Yep, right after The Pixies. I love this gig.


P.S. Kim Deal is one of the most underrated women in rock. Just sayin’.

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