I can still remember the first time I ever heard the Pixies. I was 10 years old, and had just gotten into watching 120 minutes on MTV. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into, looking back on it, but I saw a video by this band called the Pixies for a song called "Alec Eiffel". At the time, it was unlike anything I'd ever heard before.....it was so full of energy, and I thought the video was cool too.Being so young, and living in the pre-internet world I didn't hear much more from this band until a few years later, but I always remembered them. When I was finally old enough to have some money of my own and started buying my own CD's, I remembered the Pixies and made one of their albums one of my first purchases. The CD I bought was called 'Surfer Rosa'. That I picked this album out of their discography was probably mostly due to the picture of the naked lady on the cover, but looking back I'm glad that this was the one I picked. Soon after buying this and loving it, I read some more about the band and quickly bought the album 'Doolittle'.
These two groundbreaking albums went on to form the basis for the types of music I listened to, and caused me to veer off from the conventional mainstream sounds. My reasoning for picking the Pixies as my first choice in this endeavor is that every other choice I make throughout this process has stemmed from my enjoyment of that one simple video 17 years ago.
While listening to the Pixies, I would like everyone to try to pick out certain elements of their sound....such as the surf guitar sounds, or the Spanish lyrical influences. Kurt Cobain once said that when Nirvana first started making music, they were simply "trying to make a Pixies record." Do you hear any similarities between the two bands? Also, Black Francis (the lead vocalist) has a rather...demented vocal style. How do you think this contrasts with the sugary female vocals of bassist Kim Deal (who you may also have heard with her other band, The Breeders)?
I hope everyone finds some enjoyment out of one of my favorite bands of all time, and happy listening.
The albums:
1. Come On Pilgrim (1987)
2. Surfer Rosa (1988)
3. Doolittle (1989)
4. Bossanova (1990)
5. Trompe le Monde (1991)
Am I always going to be the first to comment? So I went on a business trip to Wisconsin this week and got some Pixies listening in...
ReplyDeleteIt occurred to me that 95 percent of the time, I tend to favor the first album or first song of an artist that I hear.
That being said, I thought "Come on Pilgrim" was a little weird at first, until the word "Caribou" became stuck in my head and I decided to just roll with it. Open mindedness is key, yes? Is it any coincidence that it's also track 1 on the first CD on David's list? There's no telling for sure. I just like the raw sound of the tracks and got used to the singing quicker than I thought I would. It didn't hurt that the whole album went very quickly, but all in all, I think I'm liking this week probably the best of the ones we've done so far. (Which is saying a bit, since my week was the first.)
Somehow on the trip I lost the order I was supposed to be listening in. I listened to "Doolittle" next. I'm not sure if it was the shabby sound quality because of the airplane noise all around me, but I decided I don't like this album as much as the others - except the song "Here Comes Your Man." While trying to figure out where I'd heard this song before (I could have sworn it was some teen movie) I read on Wikipedia that it is considered "pop" and "one of the most accessible songs ever by an underground-type band." Also interesting - it was written BEFORE "Come on Pilgrim" and "Surfer Rosa" but not included on either.
Without having listened to the last two in depth yet, I think I can safely say I prefer the Pixies' earlier stuff to the latter. You all know "Where is My Mind?" (from "Surfer Rosa"), which remains my favorite song by the band, because it was the song in "Fight Club" as Tyler Durden watched all the high rise buildings explode. I don't know if it's the movie reference or the song itself, but David is always talking about "big sounds" and this song is one of the biggest I've ever heard, while still maintaining a creepy subtlety. Love it. More later.
I finished the data disc that David provided today at work. I am not certain if this was due to how short the tracks were, but I had a hard time noticing when one song ended and when another began. I actually didn't even notice when I switched albums. To me, almost every song sounded about the same. The first album definetly stood out due to just how raw of a sound it had. After some thought, I have decided that this group is just not for me. It has a lot of common elements of my style, but somehow just misses. I think it is primarily something about the lead singer that just bugs me. I have a hard time getting connected with what he/she has to say and the overall rhythm. I did enjoy the bass players singing much more, but I love female singers in rock bands so that would have been a given regardless of what she sounded like. The surfer guitar was pretty cool and reminded me of Sublime. One song that did stand out was 'La La Love You'. I couldn't help but wonder if it had any influence on Barney.
ReplyDeleteI defintely heard the influence they had on Nirvana and I actually heard some similarities between them and early Pearl Jam. Sometimes they even reminded me of Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins. That being said, I am not a huge Nirvana, Pearl Jam, OK go or grunge fan altogether. There were other times that I heard some influences that the Violent Femmes may have had on them. I really had a difficult time getting into these albums and as a result do not really have a whole lot to say other than the Pixies were just simply not for me. I know that a lot of people enjoy this group so clearly it is not the Pixies, it's me. I can, however, appreciate their contributions to the bands I love today, just not directly. This was a good pick to add some variety to our selections.
Terry, for some reason I was surprised you weren't more into the Pixies. I can see the lead singer's voice maybe bothering you, but the guitars and the music I thought would hit a lot closer to home for you, especially looking at the list of bands you've got coming up, at least in comparison to the last three weeks of picks. I know what you're saying in terms of not knowing where one song ends and the other begins, because I had that problem with Jamie Cullum and sometimes Herbie Hancock, but I didn't get that as much here. To each his own I guess.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you if it helps at all, I didn't like Black Francis' voice at first either but then I remembered what David had told me about listening to Herbie Hancock and applied it in reverse here. I have a hard time with instrumental music so he told me then to listen to certain instruments as if they were singers, their notes like lyrics of a song. Here, I applied a similar idea by ignoring the fact that I couldn't understand a lot of the lyrics and listened to his voice as if it were an instrument instead. After that, I saw his voice as a necessary abrasiveness to balance out the melodic guitar riffs. Together, I think they achieve the perfect mix.
This band is like a Guitar Hero cash cow they just haven't figured out yet.
It has been quite some time since I gave the Pixies my full attention, after a quick listen of "Come on Pilgrim" it's very clear what a profound effect they had on the landscape of alternative music. You certainly can't call them a one-trick pony, as their sound moves from rock to punk to surf to rockabilly. I can hear the blueprint for Radiohead's album "The Bends" on the first track Caribou. Curt Cobain was clearly inspired by the track Levitate Me, as he ripped off Frank's wail and ran with it. The back to back tracks, Holiday Song and Nimrods Son, are the catchiest songs about incest you'll ever hear. At 20 minutes in length, this album always demmands a repeat listen.
ReplyDeleteKim Deal steps up to the mic and delivers on "Surfer Rosa"; she is the ying to Franks yang. The album lacks a clear direction again; at times more controlled with Gigantic, and sometimes a wall of sound like Something Against You. The hidden track You Fuckin Die accentuates Frank's crazy persona even further, with that being said, I feel Kim's voice was a safety net for Frank to explore a more primal sound.
"Doolittle" was the most accessible album they had made, up to that date. Songs like, Wave of Mutilation and Here Comes Your Man invited more people into their strange world. Monkey Gone To Heaven is still my favorite Pixies song ever, I've listened to it 4 times in a row now. Though more accessible, songs like Mr. Grieves let's you know Frank Black is still in the building. Guitarist Joe Santiago gracefully bends notes and shines on There Goes My Gun and Hey. Silver adds a bit of backwoods counrty to their repertoire. This is their crowning acheivement, and reminds me why I love local punk band Nil8 who owes most of their sound to the Pixies.
I immediately notice a more polished and produced album here with "Bossanova"; I don't think this lends to the Pixies sound. With the exception of the Dick Dale inspired Cecilia Ann and impecable Rock Music, nothing really jumps out at me here.
It is my understanding that Kim had little to do with the band creatively on the last two albums, and the lack of her presence especially her voice really hurt the sound of the group. I didn't hear any positive growth after Doolittle, but the impact of the Pixies is sonically evident in the history of alternative music and it's effect on pop culture.
Let me first start off by saying that I am not a huge fan of alternative music. Don't get me wrong there are a few bands that I like, but all in all it is not my scene. That being said I was not sure what I was going to think about the pixies. They definately are very unique, and I am sure were very ahead of their time.
ReplyDeleteOf all the albums I think I had the hardest time with "Come on Pilgrim." For me it was a little too all over the place for me. The "caribou" song actually kind of made me laugh. I don't know if that was the effect that they wanted from me or not? I do see however, where other alt. bands to come would get a lot of inspiration from the unique sounds off this album.
On "surfer Rosa" I of course enjoyed the song " Where is my Mind." You can not help but think about Fight Club when you hear this song. I agree with Laura in that you can just picture the end of the movie and all the buildings blowing up around them. Good song choice on the movies part, the words and stand out guitar riff really set the mood for the scene.
Doolittle was the easiest album for me to listen to. I found myself tapping my feet quite a few times. I do agree with Thomas on how the songs all kind of flow together and you have a hard time distinguishing one song from the next. Bone Machine was very catchy to me, thus making it my favorite song off of this album. Although the pixies are a group I will probably never listen to again, I appreciate how the instruments used in the songs have just as much to say as the actual words to the song.
"Bossanova" and "Trompe Le Monde" were more of the same. Don't get me wrong, their music is unlike pretty much anything I have ever heard, it just seems that they don't evolve as a group. I appreciate all the group does in the pioneering of the alternative scene, and I am sure a lot of the music that is out today would not be what it is without groups like the Pixies, to step out of the box with a unique sound. Final thought.....not my type of music, but can appreciate what it did for the music industry.
A few closing thoughts from me on the Pixies:
ReplyDelete*I also liked "Monkey Gone to Heaven," especially what I assume is the chorus, forgive me if I heard the lyrics wrong, but "if the devil is 6 then god is 7."
*I agree with Justin in that there wasn't much positive growth after "Doolittle," so I guess its good I did my heavy listening early in the week. I guess as a fan of the first two albums, growth really wasn't what I was looking for in those two anyway.
*I like that "Doolittle" is accessible to a wider audience, but surprisingly, I preferred the weird I heard in "Come On Pilgrim" and "Surfer Rosa." I think it's what makes them unique, and I think a bit of that something special started to slip there near the end.
*All in all I really liked Pixies week. I can definitely hear their impact on alternative rock, and expect to be hearing more as time goes on. Knowing the kinds of bands David listens to, I can definitely hear and see why this was his first pick.
*Not only did I enjoy the music, but I really enjoyed reading about the band, their personalities and their disputes. If they were to show up at Bonnaroo 2010, this is one set I wouldn't miss.
First off, I appreciate all of you giving the Pixies a chance. I knew going in that it wasn't going to be one of my better weeks as far as 'pleasing the crowd', but I felt like this needed to be my choice for personal reasons. As I said before, my love of the Pixies has influenced the direction I took in my choice of musical tastes, and therefore is responsible for everything else I'm going to pick. For all of my remaining weeks, I'm going to try to be a little all over the place in terms of style and genre of music, all the while trying to keep things on the underground spectrum.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the music goes, I feel like the Pixies were one of few bands in the history of music to come out of the box fully formed. There really was no learning curve with them, as "Come On Pilgrim" was definitely one of their stronger releases. While starting the album off a little on the manic end, the last 4 songs were the band at their poppiest, all the while still incorporating the strange lyrical subjects that would remain a staple throughout their career.
The next two albums, "Surfer Rosa" and "Doolittle" are two of my favorite albums in music. The Pixies hit their peak in terms of combining the abrasive with the beautiful, in my estimation, and crafted some of the more brilliant indie-pop songs ever made. Songs such as 'Gigantic', 'Where Is My Mind?', 'Here Comes Your Man', and 'Monkey Gone to Heaven' were probably their crowning achievement, although I could honestly consider every song on either album to be my favorite.
While the final two albums as a whole weren't up to the fantastically high bar that was set by their previous releases, they each still contained some high points. "Bossanova" especially was a little weak (in terms of their discography, strong in terms of music in general), as the production was a little too slick for their sound. The Pixies are at their best when they sound the most raw, which is why I feel that their earliest music was also their best....they weren't getting the big recording dollars at the time and the music was all the better for it, as is often the case. However, the band did alter their sound a bit, as evidenced by the almost metal sounding guitar bit on the opening instrumental 'Cecilia Ann'. The harder edge continues throughout the record, and in my opinion doesn't always workout out in their best interests.
ReplyDelete"Trompe le Monde" was a bit of a return to form, as Kim Deal has a little more of a presence, although she still isn't as noticeable as she was in their early history. The overall sound of the album hints more towards the types of music that Frank Black would release in the early part of his solo career, while still remaining clearly a Pixies album. As I've already said, 'Alec Eiffel' was the song that got me into the band, and it's still one of my favorites to this day. The rest of the album is great itself, and is clearly my favorite of the final two Pixies albums.
While the Pixies career was pretty short lived in terms of their creative zenith, the effect they had on music to come was massive. Without them, the 'Northwest' indie sound from such bands as Modest Mouse and Built to Spill wouldn't exist, and Nirvana wouldn't have come out the same. With news that the band has re-united once again for a tour of their "Doolittle" album, I'll be hopefully waiting for them to make a stop in St Louis, or at Bonnaroo next year. Once again, thank you to everyone for indulging me in my choice.