Alternative Weekend: Focus on ‘The Pixies’

I have been posting most weekends using @detlev’s #metalweekend tag, but my main love of music is progressive and alternative music. Some of my posts have included these songs, but I feel they are not keeping with the spirit of metal.

I will continue to post article’s using #metalweekend occasionally but feel I have more to offer regarding these other genre’s that I am more familiar with.

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Introducing #alternativeweekend. Post an article that highlights THREE great songs that are either progressive or alternative and use the tag #alternativeweekend or use the ‘Focus on’ series if you like. There are no rules, just make your own!

If you have a short story or something to offer regarding an opinion on your songs, then share it with us!

The Pixies were a band I discovered much later than I should have. The grunge period of the early to middle 90’s has come and gone and I loved most of it. Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains were bands I was listened to a lot in the days.

Unknowingly to me at the time, The Pixies had a huge influence on the late Kurt Cobain and his band. Several years before the grunge scene emerged the radical album that is named ‘Surfer Rosa’ was unleashed on the world. Not many noticed, and fewer still in their home county of America.

It’s common information that Kurt admittedly tried to rip-off Surfer Rosa when creating Nevermind. While I find the albums oceans apart I do hear similarities in the styles of the bands in terms of the short tracks, maniacal screams and distorted feedback driven guitaring.

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What’s different about them is the mood. The Pixies were always upbeat, mirthful and mischievous much like their band name, whereas Nirvana were all serious, depressing and gloomy. Mind you I’m not taking anything away from Kurt’s band, I am a big fan too.

The Pixies are still touring but without original bass player Kim Deal. It was never a marriage made in heaven during their original stint with Kim and Charles (the lead vocalist) having power struggles that ultimately ended the first iteration of the band in 1993.

I have tried in vain to see The Pixies live as they do tour the UK. The tickets are gone in seconds, such is the following they still have here.

I never got to grips with the final album, Trompe le Monde before the reformation, so my picks will be from the earlier material.

The Pixies - Where is my Mind? (Surfer Rosa – 1988)

This song was featured in the Fight Club movie that featured Brad Pitt. Whilst I did watch it back in 1999 I didn’t pick up on probably the most famous song of the band.

Since then I have listened to it so much that I don’t want to hear it anymore. Still it needs to be included in any Pixies article.

The Pixies - Dead (Doolittle – 1989)

The Surfer Rosa album was good but Doolittle takes the crown in my opinion. The amount of great songs on it speaks volumes of its quality and the online reviews testify this is their most popular album.

Humour was something always evident in Pixies songs. They were loud, brash and shouty but often made me smile.

I can’t omit a song that has lyrics such as:

Uriah hit the crapper, the crapper
Uriah hit the crapper, the crapper
Uriah hit the crapper, the crapper

That line still makes me laugh every time I hear it. Listen to that bass @verhp11!
Finding the studio version of this song is proving hard, so here's a live one from when they were young in 1989.

The Pixies – Gouge Away (Doolittle – 1989)

It is a rare song that gets me from the first listen and I know it’s something special. Many Pixies songs are short, some less than 2 minutes which is a far cry from my usual tastes of progressive songs.

This one has it all, another great bassline which you can clearly hear, ripping guitars and Charles screaming down the microphone.

The video is not the real one for the song, just a visual overlay.

The Pixies – Rock Music (Bossanova – 1990)

It took me a little longer to get into Bossanova. Its patchier that the previous albums but still contains some good listenable material.

When I heard this maniacal track, it reminded me of Tourette's by Nirvana. So that’s where Kurt got his inspiration from! It’s not quite the same but the theme most certainly is.

Screaming lyrics over a rhythmic guitar wall of sound is something you may not like on first listen.

Just like the Nirvana song, this is short and sweet and the similarities are startling.

There are so many other songs I could have highlighted in this ‘Focus on’ review. It’s sad that Kim Deal was almost excluded from vocal duty post Doolittle as she added much to the songs.

The band are together again and touring as I mentioned but without Kim who bailed out several years back. I would imagine the old power struggles emerged again though I haven’t researched the reasons.

The Pixies – What Goes Boom (Indy Cindy – 2014)

This is a throwback to their earlier material; some madness and some melodic harmonies mix well and contribute to a ‘long’ song of around three and a half minutes.

I know @meesterboom is a fan of this band, and may not have heard this later track. It kind of fits his persona well I think.

When attempting to crack ‘The Pixies sound’ many years ago I found a rockumentary on YouTube and watched it several times. It’s amazing how many artists sought inspiration from a band that I completely missed first time around.

David Bowie, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood as well as others all have very positive things to say about The Pixies. It is well worth a watch but seems to have been removed. The full thing is named 'Gouge', and here's a small extract that is still present.