It’s indicative of the band’s unwavering popularity, something that that led to their reunion in 2004. In 2005, seventeen years after its release, it was finally certified gold in the US. Like many underground albums, ‘Surfer Rosa’ was widely ignored upon its release, a reminder that ‘alternative rock’ was appropriately termed in the late 1980s. Which other band has merged flamenco with punk rock, as the Pixies do here on ‘Oh My Golly!’ and ‘Vamos’? Their most interesting elements are those which have been copied the least. (Despite MIA dropping some lyrics from ‘Where Is My Mind?’ into her 2007 track ‘20 Dollar’, the album’s influence on hip-hop remains negligible.)īut, overall, Pixies were a truly singular band. There are, however, a few musical connections which haven’t been pointed out before: for instance, the bassless ‘Cactus’ could easily be a White Stripes number. Let’s not add too much to the subject’s word count here. Pixies’ influence on alternative rock – in particular their use of loud/quiet dynamics - has been spoken about ad nauseum. You’d imagine it was shot in some seedy Mexican cantina, but it was actually taken in a London pub where the photographer built a suitably evocative set. The image of a topless dancer sashaying before a crucifix is the perfect representation of the music inside – sexy, a little unhinged and replete with religious imagery.
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Like all the very best albums, ‘Surfer’ has a memorable, highly apposite cover. The other, in which Kim Deal gabbles excitedly about a teacher with a sordid predilection for "field hockey players", crops up before ‘I’m Amazed’. One – an awkward encounter between Francis and an off-mic Albini – is a track in its own right. Adding to the off-the-cuff atmosphere are the snippets of intra-band studio banter. Like, say, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, ‘Surfer Rosa’ sounds as if it was recorded in a single, frenetic session (it was actually ten days). On the vicious ‘Something Against You’, Francis’ vocals go through a guitar amp for maximum distortion.īut this is far from a being a precious, studio- crafted ‘headphones’ LP. For Kim Deal’s vocals on ‘Gigantic’, Albini moved the studio equipment and recorded in a studio bathroom to achieve real, rather than studio-induced, echo. OK, so neither was the case, but Albini’s recording methods were indeed unusual. Black Francis would seem to have been locked in the room next door throughout recording, which may explain why he spends most of the album screaming his head off. The album as a whole sounds like it was recorded in an aircraft hangar. You need only listen to the opening bars of its first track, ‘Bone Machine’ - a barrage of immense, rib-shaking drums, jagged, Magic Band-style guitars and bizarre lyrics about attempted molestation and infidelity. Compared to other records from the era - which tend to sound indistinct now, as if wrapped in aural gauze – ‘Surfer Rosa’ still sounds razor sharp. That’s due mainly to Steve Albini’s production – sorry, recording – methods. Despite being twenty years old today, the album genuinely hasn’t dated. But ‘Surfer Rosa’ has a thrillingly propulsive energy that ‘Doolittle’ lacks. Compare and contrast their respective last tracks: while ‘Doolittle’ strides off confidently with the malevolent ‘Gouge Away’, ‘Surfer Rosa’ fairly limps off with ‘Brick Is Red’ – pleasant enough, but something of an anti-climax after the preceding maelstrom. ‘Surfer’ doesn’t have the consistency of songwriting that ‘Doolittle’ can boast. If ‘Doolittle’ is the Pixies’ classic – packed as it is with indie disco staples like ‘Debaser’ and ‘Here Comes Your Man’ – then the abrasive, ragged ‘Surfer Rosa’ is their underground effort.
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Sometimes, though, the argument holds water. The Velvet Underground’s ‘White Light/White Heat’ is supposedly their ‘underground’ work, but only the cloth-eared would favour it above their melodious eponymous album of 1969.
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These ‘underground’ records are usually introduced in conversation thus: ‘Yeah is alright, but is the one the real fans prefer’. The latter category comprises albums that did not attract the same level of critical and commercial success at the time of release, but score points for showcasing the band in its rawer or more experimental form. In the former category are those that contain most of their best-known songs and tend to clog up those interminable ‘Top 100’ lists. Most acclaimed bands have one ‘classic’ record and an ‘underground’ one.