The Pixies - Doolittle

The Pixies - Hey

Runs for 3:33

Elements of Blues and Rock to create something that's not quite BluesRock. Pretty well constructed song I'd say.

So a couple of months ago, what with my distaste at everything that had been released this year, I went back and started properly listening to The Pixies as opposed to only hearing ‘Where Is My Mind’ on the radio and thinking, “yeah! This is ok.”. Anyway, fun facts! In many ways they were the backbone for a lot of the better acts of the nineties. Other artists including Kurt Cobain and David Bowie also give them a pretty solid rep. I’ve listened to Doolittle to find out why.

One of the things The Pixies (are said to) have pioneered lay in their song structure. Songs in many instances would keep calm/quiet but then explode into full force with all instruments going guns blazing and Frankie Black screaming, wailing or howling over the top of it. “Tame” is a brilliant example of this, even though it’s one of the more abrasive tracks on the album. Outside of this, all the songs are pretty differently structured and the only two similar sounding songs would be “Debaser” and “Gouge Away” but that’s still a stretch. Also, beside the point. All the songs sound fantastic in their own way. “Wave of Mutilation” is calm, happy and surfy, “Hey” is bluesy and soulful and “Crackity Jones” has this speed and insanity that lies similar to hardcore punk. I haven’t even described every track yet, but it’s incredibly versatile without getting too experimental or just plain weird.

The instrumentals aren’t anything too brilliant though, and as a musician you’ll notice this. The guitar, bass and drums is pretty simple in most instances but it all sounds good by use of clever tone and the correct timing of when to use a certain instrument over playing everything at once or resorting to wanky solos.

Anyway, it’s one of those albums that everyone recommends but everyone’s too lazy to listen to it. Just do it, they don’t say you should for no reason. Heck it was good enough for Cobain and that dude married that walking Chlamydia farm Courtney Love. You gonna put yourself a rung down from a guy who dated Courtney Love?

(Disclaimer: Cobain was an ok guy and I’ve got nothing against him. Sorry if I’ve offended any Nirvana or Kurt fans in general. Hole fans though – seriously? Love is incredibly self centred. The only reason she didn’t name the band after herself is because the record label wouldn’t let the words ‘Filthy’ and ‘Aids Ridden’ into the title.)