TOMORROW night, re-united American band Pixies will play the first of four shows at Festival Hall in Melbourne as part of an international tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of their landmark album
Doolittle.
The fact there is such demand for the band is impressive considering how much of a fringe act they were upon their original incarnation. Loved in Britain, ignored in the US and largely unknown in Australia, they are now one of the most influential and critically revered bands in the world. Here's why.
Come On Pilgrim (1987)
AFTER forming in Boston and playing for about a year, Pixies went to a studio in Vermont and recorded 17 songs, forming what is known by fans as The Purple Tape. The demo was good enough to make them the first US band to sign to esteemed UK indie label 4AD (The Birthday Party, The The, Stereolab, Cocteau Twins), which remixed eight of the tracks for the mini-album Come On Pilgrim. It's a brilliant synopsis of the dynamics that made the four-piece so influential. Frontman Black Francis alternates between sandpaper screams (Caribou, Ed Is Dead, The Holiday Song), Spanish rants (Vamos, Isla De Enchanta), delicate melodies (Caribou and Ed Is Dead again) and glam-style speak-singing (I've Been Tired). The band brings the quiet-loud structure and subtle genre mash-ups that become their signature rock sound and influenced such bands as Nirvana and Radiohead.
Surfer Rosa (1988)
WITH punk/producer Steve Albini at the desk, Pixies created an exspansive, raw lo-fi sound for their first full-length record. Three of the songs were leftovers from The Purple Tape (Break My Body, Broken Face, I'm Amazed) and Vamos was re-recorded, but the new material took the band in another interesting direction. Something Against You and Broken Face were abrasive punk, River Euphrates was off-kilter yet melodic, Cactus was a rock-boogie, Tony's Theme was infused with surf-rock, and Oh My Golly! continued the previously recorded Vamos' Mexi-punk abstractions. But the real highlights are perhaps their two greatest songs: the simple grunge template Gigantic (sung by bassist Kim Deal) and the anthemic, much-loved Where Is My Mind?.
Doolittle (1989)
BRITISH music mag NME called this the second-greatest album ever, as did Australia's Juice. Q and Rolling Stone listed it as one of the best records as well. Why? Doolittle is a bold, fresh and inventive album, even 20 years on. It made the mould for much of the alternative-rock that followed and distilled Pixies' sound into one incredible LP. Just about every song is a perfect combination of what made them great - Deal's solid basslines and sweet harmonies, David Lovering's driving and creative drums, Joey Santiago's left-field guitar lines, and Francis' varied voices, surreal lyrics and off-centre arrangements. Highlights: Debaser, Wave Of Mutilation, I Bleed, the Beatlesy Here Comes Your Man, Monkey Gone To Heaven, the reggae-turned-cow-punk of Mr Grieves, the mellow groove of Hey, and closer Gouge Away... hell, pretty much every song.
Bossanova (1990)
AFTER a Pixies' concert a couple of years ago, I overheard a fan lament they "didn't play enough songs off Bossanova". My friend quipped, "That's because it's not very good". It isn't a patch on their previous releases, yes, but it still has some great moments. Surftones cover Cecilia Ann, Velouria, Ana, All Over The World and Dig For Fire are all stand-outs, but much of the rest of the album feels like reworkings of past efforts. This could be due to the fact that a lot of material was written in the studio and came after a hiatus brought on by a falling-out between Francis and Deal, who hardly talked during the band's final years.
Trompe Le Monde (1991)
FRANCIS again pushed his strange song structuring, particularly on the title track (of which there is a rad Letterman version on YouTube) and the band broadened their sound pallette, notably on the more polished abrasiveness of Planet Of Sound and the keyboard-enhanced Bird Dream Of The Olympus Mons. The head-bopping school saga U-Mass remains one of their most under-rated songs, and Letter To Memphis and their Jesus & Mary Chain cover Head On jump out at you. A lot of their finale sounds a bit like a band going through the motions, but it is a grower.
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