The Pixies are one of the most obviously great bands of the last thirty years. If you like weird rock and roll, there's probably a 95% chance you like this group. They check all the boxes-- distinctive singer with a terrifying scream, clever lyrics that reference both UFOs and the Old Testament, solid hooks in just about every song, a powerful, straightforward rhythm section, strange and beautiful harmony vocals, searing electric guitar leads, and a general bent toward the endearingly odd. They're surf music from Mars, punk from the Marianas Trench, pop with its head popped off... They're the Pixies, and they're fucking superb. Here's a real quick overview of what they were all about. (They reformed in the early 2000s, did some reunion shows, and then kicked out Kim Deal, making them now "not the Pixies.")
Come on Pilgrim (1987) - **** - This EP tells you succinctly most of the what the band is about, even if it lacks the wallop of every following Pixies release. ("Vamos" is here, but this version is only about a quarter as menacing and thrilling as the "Vamos" found on "Surfer Rosa.") You have your speedy punk ("The Holiday Song," "Nimrod's Son," "Isla De Encanta") and your bizarro power pop ("Ed is Dead"). Begins and ends on two epic notes: "Caribou" is absolutely essential, an ode to the wild that, yeah, gets pretty fucking wild, and "Levitate Me" introduces the spiritual element in Black Francis's songwriting that has also made him more compelling than most of his peers and imitators. Also: a funny little hip-hop thing called "I've Been Tired."
Surfer Rosa (1988) - *****- Released just a month after I was born, and it seems like the album I was born to love. The band teams up with Steve Albini to record their loudest, rawest, most unhinged set. On no other Pixies record do the guitars jackhammer you has hard as they do on "Something Against You," and the drums will never be more booming that they are at the start of "Bone Machine." The songwriting is still there, though. You've heard "Where is My Mind" because of Fight Club and because the song is a goddamn triumph. You've probably heard "Gigantic," too, Kim's gorgeous sing-along dick ode that was hilariously/sadly in a recent phone commercial. What you might haven't heard, and what you absolutely must here, are all the noisy experimental tunes that will never soundtrack anything but the dreams of old clowns... The psychedelic guitar and vocal interplay on "River Euphrates," the jagged melodies of "Brick is Red," the slamming "Broken Face," and the hyperactive Spanish rave-up "Oh My Golly."
Doolittle (1989) - *****- The band is on fire. Gil Norton's production pares back the feedback to reveal... Shimmering melodies, creative playing, and hooks hooks hooks hooks hooks. It begins with the strongest string of hits in Pixies history-- "Debaser," "Tame," "Wave of Mutilation," etc-- just saying their names should be enough. This is Beatles-level shit, tunes and lyrics that should not work because they're so out of left field... But once you let them in your head, they are there for life. Heck, every one of these songs has something to offer, from Kim's country-dirge "Silver" to "Crackity Jones," perhaps the fastest punk rocker in a catalog with more than a few. I think I'm most partial to "No. 13 Baby," with its coda that deconstructs the melody and lets you see how crucial every member of this band is to its sound. Some people call this the Pixies' finest hour. I might have played it too many times as a teenager to join the chorus, though. Use "Doolittle" wisely!
Bossanova (1990) - ****- The Pixies step backward! Ahh! But they were already so far ahead that you still have a heckuva good record. Black Francis doesn't abandon punk entirely here (it shows up in the ugly, repetitive "Rock Music," and in a few savage rockers at the end) but he clearly takes a leap toward making "beautiful music." For the most part, he succeeds: "Ana" and "Havalina" really are dreamy, neo-surf classics, and "The Happening," with its wailing background vocals from Kim and Francis, might be my all time favorite Pixies song. Oh, and "Velouria." How can you not like "Velouria"? Maybe "Down to the Well" and "Stormy Weather" don't reach as high as the Pixies other great rock songs. Maybe "Cecilia Ann" is the most mediocre opening cut in Pixies history. Nevertheless, I'd take "Bossanova" over a "Doolittle" clone anyday. Listen to this one front to back and it puts you in a world completely removed from the typical Pixies scene of grit and irony and noise.
Trompe Le Monde (1991) - *****- The band's swan song, their fourth in four years (!), and for a long time everyone seemed to hate it. Which is strange, because it rules. The word is "relentlessness"... The Pixies have been louder on other records, but they've never been so driving as on "Trompe." They explore the extremes of their sound with chugging metallic epics ("The Sad Punk" and "I Believe in Space," which has twenty hooks and just kills me) and plaintive poppers ("Bird Dream of Olympus Mons," "The Navajo Know"); they do their own spin on "Hey Jude" ("Motorway to Roswell"), make fun of their fans ("Subbacultcha") and their foes ("U-Mass"), and cover the Jesus and Mary Chain so well you forget they did "Head On" first. A ceaselessly creative record, chock full of tasty tasty guitar and vocal hooks, but you're still probably not into it because it doesn't have "Where is My Mind." Fools! A lack of hits is a GOOD THING! You hear hits on the RADIO! Albums are for secret gems! Every track of "Trompe Le Monde" is a secret gem.
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