Pixies

The Pixies are among the most influential bands for grunge, as well as pivotal names in the alternative rock of the late Eighties. Pushing the point a little further, one could say that, together with the Melvins, they defined a good part of grunge's approach to rock: an interweaving of melody and noise, handled through stark contrasts, and a taste for eccentric song structures. If the Melvins are the reference point for the more brutal, raw side of things, it's the Pixies we readily associate with the side closer to the song form itself, an adherence to the idea that verse, chorus, bridge and solo are still the inescapable destination of rock, however alternative or creative it may be.

The Pixies' debut album, the landmark “Surfer Rosa” (1988), is a vivid carousel of intensity and emotion, distorted guitars and unhinged ballads. Thanks in part to the production of Steve Albini, at times it's deafening and overwhelming, as on “Something Against You”, at others it sways between fragility and power, as on “Gigantic” or “Where Is My Mind”. “Doolittle” (1989) arrived carrying a heavy weight of expectation: the band had already won over part of the critical establishment, the alternative audience had started paying attention, and it looked like the classic opportunity not to be missed. What remained above all was to win over the US market, while in the UK the likes of Melody Maker, NME and, inevitably, John Peel had already crowned the band as top-tier talent. The producer changed: from Steve Albini to Gil Norton, with whom they had already worked on the single version of “Gigantic”. The production history, which we've already explored in depth, tells of an album with a budget quadrupled compared to “Surfer Rosa” and an approach far more inclined to bring out the band's unhinged melodic streak, without setting aside the violent, disorienting contrasts with its noisier punk- and hard rock-derived side.

The layered guitars of the surf-punk of “Debaser” are something like the album's sonic manifesto, delivered to the listener in a track where Black Francis screams like a man possessed, Kim Deal whispers elegiacally, and Joey Santiago vents between hard rock riffs and acid solos. That unstable balance returns in “Wave Of Mutilation”, this time a far more melodic vocal line but with rhythmic reinforcements and majestic guitar slashes, and “Gouge Away”, which seems to cut off its climaxes and sedate its own rage. The two voices return in “I Bleed”, in full quiet/loud mode, with Black Francis hamming it up in baritone tones while a distorted music-box melody rages on, echoing “Where Is My Mind?”.

The album's more pop-facing side is instead showcased by the wonderfully odd “Here Comes Your Man” and especially “Monkey Gone To Heaven”, both shot through with psychedelic sensibility, the latter even arranged with strings.

The more ramshackle, unpredictable dimension is still present too, articulated here in the bizarre reggae-punk blend of “Mr. Grieves”, in the frenzied, brief country-punk shard of “Crackity Jones”, and in the unsettling country-blues of “Silver”.

The brutal blend of “Tame”, tearing itself apart in its dynamic of tension and release, is instead a moment of visceral violence, while “Dead” feels like a strange fusion of a menacing, Melvins-style sound with more melodic, post-punk-derived choruses.

“Hey” is one of the moments where Santiago's guitar stands out, his “lyrical” approach to the instrument, melancholic and distorted.

“Doolittle” was a modest success with both audiences and, above all, critics, once again more so in the UK than at home. US college radio would turn “Monkey Gone to Heaven” into an anthem. Over time, “Doolittle” would go on to sell more than a million copies at home, following the typical dynamic of the so-called long seller. MTV, at the time a superpower in determining an artist's musical success, would add the Pixies to its daily rotation, making them a recognizable name even outside the underground. Certainly, a major contribution to the lasting success of the album, and of the band, also came from the many Nineties musicians who drew inspiration from these songs, more or less openly. One of them, you may already have heard of him, is a certain Kurt Cobain.

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09/04/2026