PIXIES "SURFER ROSA"
4AD, 1988
Part of me wants to put Trompe Le Monde on here as the "classic album" since it clearly has all their best songs on it (pretty much all of 'em are perfect and DIFFERENT; I feel sorry for people who have missed the boat on that fantastic release -- how can anyone deny "Alec Eiffel" or "Motoroway to Roswell"?!!?!?!? Strangely, it's also Dave Grohl's favorite album of all time. Weird, eh? Uh.. back to this album..). Ultimately, though, this one wins by a hair because it's a bit darker, more energetic, a bit weirder, has more Kim, and has my favorite Pixies song ("Brick is Red").
Anyway, this album is one of the few that I truely think never, ever gets old. I've been loving it for a good 6 years now, and it still sounds fresh to me. It's filled with so many amazing moments ... wow ... and my favorite moments probably aren't even the ones most people worship (never been a huge fan of "Where Is My Mind?" -- great riff but it just doesn't stand out to me). The Albini production is very nice of course, but what really makes this album great is all the fucking ENERGY -- for a bunch of sweaty old people (and at least 2 of them were fat), they sure did have a ton of energy!
In a lot of ways, this album reminds me of 'Pink Flag'. It's a genius record that is deceptively simple. Listen to the minimal guitar lines or the simple structures of some of the songs ("Oh My Golly" and "Cactus" being perfect examples); there's still something that holds it all together in a mysterious way. I think one of the biggest strengths of this album is Kim Deal; the way her voice weaves with Frank's is really intriguing...
Anyway, you've all heard this album before, so I'm not going to bother writing an encyclopedia, instead I'll list my favorite moments:
- That riff in "Vamos".. you know the one.. him playing the bottom string from fret 11 to fret 15 really fast.. brilliant!
- The final time Frank says "your momma's a pretty thing" in "Vamos".
- That ugly, corny, galloping acoustic guitar that starts "Vamos".
- The lyrics to "Cactus".
- All of "Brick is Red".
- "THIS IS A SONG FOR CAROL!!!!!!!!!!"
- The final minute of "Gigantic".
- All of "Something Against You"! Am I the only one who thinks that that riff is used in every ska song ever?
- "River Euphrates".. this song is great, and for some reason I feel like I've never totally listened to it enough.. there's something about the structure or the production of it or something.. it seems kind of empty, like there are elements missing, and I keep listening to hear the elements I'm missing.. I can't really explain what I mean. Strangely minimal but complex at the same time -- eh?!
- Kim's off-key vocals in "I'm Amazed".
...
No points for "Tony's Theme" though.