New Zealand is a lovely country, with lots of sheep and mountains, and it’s a good idea to come and visit us if you ever have the chance. Charles Thompson, however, made the right decision in 1986, when he opted out of taking a trip down under to view Halley’s Comet, and instead formed a band. He rechristened himself Black Francis and took some vocal pointers from a Thai rock star. He recruited his roommate Joey Santiago, an unpredictable lead guitarist, Kim Deal (at that point known as Mrs John Murphy) whose gutsy vocals and bass provided an excellent counterpoint to Francis’ compelling screaming, and David Lovering who held all the various parts together with solid drumming.
The resulting conglomerate, the Pixies, were one of the most idiosyncratic rock bands of their era. Francis cites Hüsker Dü and Peter, Paul and Mary as two of his favourite bands, and the Pixies’ music reflects those influences; their melodies are generally poppy and approachable but Santiago’s guitar infuses them with a nastier edge. What really sets the band apart is Francis’ lyrics and vocals; his voice erratically screams its way through whatever topic comes to mind. There are lots of other influences in the band mix too – early sixties surf rock and fellow Boston band The Cars are assimilated into the Pixies sound.
Largely due to tensions between Deal and Francis, the Pixies announced their split in 1993. They’ve periodically reunited, but I prefer to just focus on their initial burst of brilliance. The film loudQUIETloud is a documentary of the reunion; you watch the members struggling with writer’s block, alcoholism, scraping together a living making soundtracks, and performing magic shows, in between playing stellar live versions of the compelling songs they wrote.
Few groups have managed to provide such a high entertainment quotient while maintaining artistic integrity and inspiring a legion of imitators. The much more successful Nirvana are indebted to their use of extreme dynamics. Black Francis started a solo career as Frank Black, while Kim Deal formed The Breeders with her sister. The group have recorded three post-reunion albums since 2014, without Kim Deal.
1987, 6/10 It’s difficult to separate this debut EP from the Pixies’ debut album, as it’s included as bonus tracks on Surfer Rosa. It’s well worth hearing, but it’s still less essential than their four full-length albums. Come On Pilgrim took its name from a quote from CCM pioneer Larry Norman, and was compiled from the demos that the newly formed band sent in as an audition for their record label. It’s similar in feel to Surfer Rosa, but it’s a little more primitive, and doesn’t have as many fully-fledged songs.
The Pixies have their sound figured out already, but the songs aren’t as memorable as on their full albums, apart from the gimmicky ‘Caribou’. But there’s some great material here, like ‘Levitate Me’. As an EP Come On Pilgrim is difficult to grade – it’s not as essential as their studio albums, but at the least it provides the CD version of Surfer Rosa with some excellent bonus tracks.
Surfer Rosa
1988, 8.5/10 Surfer Rosa follows a similar template to Come on Pilgrim with the same disjointed songs. but it’s more expansive and more idiosyncratic than Come on Pilgrim, and Steve Albini’s production gives the album more impetus.
There are few better three song sequences in recorded music than the trio of ‘Gigantic’, ‘River Euphrates’ and ‘Where Is My Mind?’ located in Surfer Rosa. ‘Gigantic’ is Deal’s vocal spotlight, and sole writing credit; the subject of the song is somewhat distasteful, but it’s awfully catchy. ‘River Euphrates’ is virtually incomprehensible, but I’m yet to hear a Pixies’ song that I like more. ‘Where Is My Mind?’ is about as close as Surfer Rosa comes to a ballad; the music’s pretty, but the lyrics are macabre. Surfer Rosa gets off to a good start too, with the memorable ‘Bone Machine’ (with a particularly memorable second verse: “………yup yup yup”) and the driving ‘Break My Body’.
Elsewhere Surfer Rosa doesn’t quite match up to the highlights, but it’s little short of essential since its best songs are so memorable and unique.
Doolittle
1989, 9/10 After the abrasiveness of Surfer Rosa, Doolittle is surprisingly poppy, with a cleaner production from Gil Norton. Since it’s the Pixies, Doolittle is still strange and skewed, but it’s more consistent than Surfer Rosa, even though the good second half isn’t able to measure up to the almost flawless first side. Kim Deal is all over the record with lots of smooth energetic vocal parts that counterbalance Francis’ inspired screaming, while Lovering gets a rare moment in centre stage with a crooning lead vocal in the either ultra-sincere or ultra-ironic ‘La La Love You’.
Doolittle gets off to a wonderful start with the nasty ‘Debaser’, complete with a set of ridiculous lyrics: “But I am un chien andalusia.” The next six songs maintain this high standard impeccably, with wonderfully skewed pop/rockers, the peppy mellowness of ‘Here Comes Your Man’, and the memorable ‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’ with a lovely string section and an unforgettable bridge. The second half drags a little, but Doolittle ends strongly with the country flavoured Deal fronted ‘Silver’ and ‘Gouge Away’, a song that Kurt Cobain claims inspired much of Nirvana’s output.
While Doolittle isn’t quite a flawless masterpiece, the Pixies’ zaniness is endearing as ever, but contrary to popular opinion, their best album was still to come.
Bossanova
1990, 7/10 Bossanova is the weakest of the Pixies’ original run of albums – it’s solid, but it’s not as engaging as their others. There are some new influences; songs about aliens, and surf rock guitar are two new facets. Kim Deal’s participation is also dialled back – she doesn’t contribute any songs and there’s nary an audible backing vocal anywhere. Often Bossanova just sounds like a watered-down version of the previous record, with some of the quieter songs failing to register (‘Ana’) and other songs using noise to compensate for a lack of ideas (‘Rock Music’).
While it’s arguably the most diluted Pixies album, Bossanova still has its moments that less charismatic bands would cherish. The off-kilter chorus of ‘Is She Weird’, the dark blues of ‘Down To The Well’ and the jerky new wave rhythms of ‘The Happening’ are instances of unhinged brilliance, while the alien love song ‘Velouria’ and the catchy ‘Dig For Fire’ are the most accomplished songs.
Only the Pixies could pull off something as off-kilter yet catchy as ‘Dig For Fire’ and ‘Velouria’, which makes the more routine moments of Bossanova all the more disappointing.
Trompe Le Monde
1991, 9.5/10 There aren’t any individual songs on Trompe Le Monde as strong as ‘Debaser’ or ‘River Euphrates’, but Trompe Le Monde is the best Pixies album because it’s relentlessly good. The tracks all segue into each other, maintaining a fast pace, while it scrambles up the styles so that the album skitters unpredictably from simple rockers to pretty ballads. Trompe Le Monde is loud and abrasive, while Kim Deal is again pushed into the background. Deal’s virtual absence leaves room for Santiago to spray his unpredictable lead guitar parts all over the place, and he’s constantly able to invigorate the album with his catchy aggressiveness.
The solo in ‘Space (I Believe In)’ is brilliant in its laughable simplicity, while the conclusion of ‘U-Mass’ collapses under a chaotic explosion of guitars. Like Bossanova, many of the songs are based on geeky science fiction themes; ‘Motorway’ to Roswell’ tells the story of the rumoured alien landings while ‘Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons’ describes a lunar landscape. My favourite track is the catchy, yet brain dead, ‘U-Mass’ (a salute to Francis’ old university), while the absurd lyrics are back in ‘Space (I Believe In)’, with Francis dedicating half the words to his observation that the session keyboard player (Jefrey) only spells his name with one f.
Trompe Le Monde is a great swansong for the first era of a great band.
Ten Favourite Pixies Songs
River Euphrates Gigantic Bone Machine Monkey Gone To Heaven Dig For Fire Debaser Where Is My Mind? I Bleed Planet of Sound U-Mass
Been listening to Frank Black albums lately. Pixies also. They just keep sounding better. I heard a small spinet of Black on the radio a while back. I even like him more. Good reviews
I haven’t heard Black’s solo stuff at all. Any recommendations?
I have been listening to the first two. Frank Black and Teenager of the Year. I really like them both. Want my son Big Earl to put them on my phone. Top of my play list right now. So much good music to keep up with. My ear kinda dictates where I go. I know I’m missing out on so much good stuff. Impossible to keep up. Good work on the reviews. Great band. I have a great box set I listen to. ‘Death to the Pixies’ It’s one of my walking CDs.
Aphoristic Album Reviews is almost entirely written by one person.
Graham Fyfe is probably the only music blogger to appreciate both Neil Diamond and Ariana Grande. Based in Fleet Street (New Zealand), he's been writing this blog since around 2000. Aphoristic Album Reviews features reviews and blog posts across a growing spectrum of popular music.
Review Pages
Read about the discographies of musical acts from the 1960s to the present day. Browse this site's review archives or enjoy these random selections:
Album reviews of CCM artists who don’t qualify for their own page. Earthsuit | Tim Hughes | Solace Earthsuit Kaleidoscope Superior 2000, 7/10Judging solely from their debut album, it’s hard to tell whether New Orleans’ Earthsuit are someone’s cunning plan to provide a Christian alternative to the secular flavour of […]
Growing up in Auckland’s North Shore, Don McGlashan and Harry Sinclair wished to defer their careers when they returned from their Overseas Experiences. McGlashan had already drummed for the Auckland post-punk trio, Blam Blam Blam, penning the music for ‘There Is No Depression In New Zealand’. Sinclair’s background is in […]
San Francisco’s Jellyfish were underappreciated during their existence in the early 1990s, but have since gained a devoted following. Their power-pop is fun and sometimes bombastic, but is often also sincere. They’re notable for their ornate arrangements, especially on 1993’s Spilt Milk, where their harmonies are reminiscent of The Beach […]
This page collects album reviews for 2010s artists for whom I’ve only reviewed one or two albums. In 2018 I started covering new albums regularly, so this page is very heavy on the last couple of years of the decade. (Sandy) Alex G | Michaela Anne | Big Big Train […]
Every country has a songwriter who’s very successful in their own territory, but hasn’t translated well elsewhere; Australia has Paul Kelly, and Canada had Gord Downie from The Tragically Hip. New Zealand’s equivalent is Dave Dobbyn, a songwriter who emerged in the pub rock scene of the late 1970s. Dobbyn […]
Introduction A whole crop of young, critically acclaimed post-punk bands emerged in the UK around 2020. It’s tough to keep up – I can barely differentiate Dry Cleaning from Black Country, New Road. My favourite of the crop is probably Squid, a five-piece band that originated in Brighton. Squid are […]
Blog Posts
I add new blog posts to this website every week. Browse the archives or enjoy these random selections:
English sophisti-pop band Prefab Sprout date back to 1970s art-rock; leader Paddy McAloon was sent a rejection letter by Brian Eno’s record label in 1976. They didn’t release their debut album Swoon until 1984, by which time the lineup had solidified. Paddy McAloon was joined by his brother Martin on […]
Carly Rae Jepsen is pigeonholed as a one-hit-wonder. Her 2012 song ‘Call Me Maybe’ is one of the most ubiquitous hits of its era. If you haven’t been paying attention since, you may be surprised to learn that Jepsen’s become a beloved and critically acclaimed pop artist. Jepsen was born […]
California’s Tom Waits has enjoyed a remarkable career. Emerging in the early 1970s as a whisky-soaked, piano-playing balladeer, his career was seemingly petering out in the early 1980s. But he reinvented himself with the junkyard clang of 1983’s excellent Swordfishtrombones, and his output from that album through to 1999’s Mule […]
The two figures at the centre of 1980s English indie-rock band The Smiths were an unlikely pairing. Vocalist Morrissey was socially awkward, literate, and camp, while guitarist Johnny Marr was an aspiring football player who trialled with Manchester City. Bonding over a shared interest in The New York Dolls, they […]
James Marshall Hendrix was born in Seattle. After his discharge from the army he became a musician, spending years gigging with acts like Little Richard, Sam Cooke, and Ike & Tina Turner. Despite his immense talent, it wasn’t until he was spotted by Keith Richard’s girlfriend and signed by former […]
King Crimson aren’t so much a band as a series of bands, all featuring idiosyncratic guitarist Robert Fripp. With a demeanour that resembles a University professor more than a rock star, Fripp’s plotted an erratic course for his band. The group formed in London in 1968, but their ninth album, […]
Been listening to Frank Black albums lately. Pixies also. They just keep sounding better. I heard a small spinet of Black on the radio a while back. I even like him more. Good reviews
I haven’t heard Black’s solo stuff at all. Any recommendations?
I have been listening to the first two. Frank Black and Teenager of the Year. I really like them both. Want my son Big Earl to put them on my phone. Top of my play list right now. So much good music to keep up with. My ear kinda dictates where I go. I know I’m missing out on so much good stuff. Impossible to keep up. Good work on the reviews. Great band. I have a great box set I listen to. ‘Death to the Pixies’ It’s one of my walking CDs.