The Crunch, The Clean, The Contrast.

The Crunch, The Clean, and The Pixies

#22 The Pixies: Doolittle

My tastes in guitar vary greatly. Well, not really...they range from kind of loud, to louder. Sometimes I love hearing my Stratocaster through my clean Vox amp. Sometimes I like my Les Paul through my full volume Marshall. Sometimes though, I want both.  So what's a musician to do? You want clean, you want distortion.  Its basically the reason I own two guitar amps. Actually I own six, but that's not the important right now... four of them don't count anyway.  Now what about the non-musicians who just want to hear some contrast? You want quiet, you want loud. You NEED the Pixies. Released in 1989, Doolittle was the Pixies second album. While not as abrasive as their debut, Surfer Rosa, it did further cement the two different sides of the Pixies. It has beautifully structured pop chord progressions that would make John Lennon proud. It also has raw aggression and unhinged guitars. See if you can handle these two extremes living comfortably in the same grooves...PLAY.


The album begins with the song "Debaser" which begins with an urgent sounding bassline which soon picks up a distorted guitar roaring out a somewhat off key attack. The Pixies are so good at making up their own scales and other musical oddities. When the song gets into its groove the off key chaos really holds together well. Frank Black's voice is as stressed as ever as he screams on and on about surrealist art films of a French origin and other random stuff that just bewilders the casual listener. Its a great upbeat opening song and sets the stage for the rest of the album. "Tame" is a song that once again starts with that bass. Kim Deal joined the Pixies without even knowing how to play the  instrument but actually turned into an effective alternative rock bass player. That doesn't really say much about the average alt-rock bassist, unless you're in Primus. Sometimes its less about mastering your instrument, and more about mastering your musical style. After the bass guitar intro, the vocals kick in sounding very quiet and almost reserved. Wait for it... This continues on for all of 20 seconds before suddenly the song absolutely explodes. "TAAAAAAAMMMMMEEE," yells Frank Black as the guitar roars in with piercing distortion and frantic pace. Well, there it is, the Pixies formula that will be imitated for the next decade. Kim Deal has described rehearsals where they would play as quiet as they could, then, play as loud as they could. That Verse/Chorus/Verse structure would be imitated by a few bands, perhaps you've heard of them: Nirvana, Meat Puppets, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Screaming Trees, and pretty much every other band that can possibly be connected to the 'grunge' scene in the early 90's.

Grunge Checklist Item 1: Boss DS-1

If you recall my post on Nirvana 'In Utero' I mentioned this song structure and the fact that at 15, I thought this was the golden ticket to rock stardom. I even have the Boss DS-1 distortion pedal to prove it. After the soothing verse and crushing chorus of 'Tame,' we move onto the next track, 'Wave of Mutilation.' The dynamic of this song is similar to what we've heard already on the album, however this one seems to have a driving pulse about it. The vocals this time use Frank Black's 'whispered scream.' Yes, I know, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Until you hear it, after all this is a band of contrasts. Note the chord progression on this one...the chorus has a great climbing effect that really hypes the whole song up. A short two minutes later, the song is over and we're moving right along. One thing is certain, no one ever accused this band of being long winded. "I Bleed" begins...well, you know...bass first, guitar later, some drums.  This time though we get such a simple chord progression it almost seems childish in nature.  However, if a child did write this song, he probably would be locked up in a some special school by now. For some reason this song just sounds like a fractured mind trying to explain itself. Frank Black is screaming 'I Bleed,' while Kim Deal counters with a very in control and almost uninterested delivery of the same line. Contrast...that should be the title of the album. Next up comes the song you have heard, unless you're really sheltered or obsessed with Rush and Dream Theater. "Here Comes Your Man" is a delightful little love song sung to...an earthquake? Well maybe...I've heard various explanations for the meaning. Sung to a lover, a drug dealer, a hobo. I don't know, decide what you you think it means and stick with it. I put it on a 'mix CD' for a girlfriend who later became my lovely wife Beth, so maybe there's more to this song than Frank Black knew. Thanks Frank! Hah...I said 'Mix CD' ...remember those? The song is built around a great 60's song writing style. Simple chord progression for the acoustic, a detailed guitar riff played very clean and even a nice "Hard Days Night" style chord at the beginning. Next up is 'Dead,' which starts...without bass?  No wait, there it is. It took almost four seconds for the bass to kick in! That has to be a record of some sort. The drums this time show us something different. A very tribal beating of the toms frames the song which uses very high bends on the guitar. The notes sound very stretched to the limit and almost like human screams. This is definitely standing out compared to the others songs, and I like it. The chorus suddenly hits us like...well, like a normal song. Its brief and doesn't stay normal long before its quick end, but wow, what a great CONTRAST.  See, there's that word again. "Monkey Gone to Heaven" is pretty standard Pixies fare. The vocals are casual, the bass is simplistic, the drums are...drums. Lyrically, its an environmentalists song. Look out for the Biblical numbering games!  5: Man, 6: Devil, 7: God, 3: Profit.  I'm pretty sure Bloodhound Gang had something to say about this as well. Oh well, gotta flip the record, no time for details.

Side Two starts out with "Mr. Grieves," an interesting song that begins sounding very rockabilly. After a slow relaxed intro the song kicks into a very simple sounding but infectious rockabilly groove. Did I accidentally put Reverend Horton Heat on?  Nope, its the Pixies alright. It eventually shifts to a nice half time groove of the same basic structure, this is fun! After that little interesting tune we move on to "Crackity Jones." At this point you're really starting to wonder what's up. That one dimensional alt rock sound of side one seems to be long gone. This track has nervous speed, a tremolo like guitar sound, and some great screaming by Frank Black. Okay, maybe its not that different...but still, it feels new. "La La Love You," begins with drums and than continues on in a surf-rock style. Lots of clean guitar, reverb and some slight wavering vibrato? Maybe I'm just hearing things.  Well, I feel like this song needs vibrato, so there. To keep things once again feeling new, Dave Lovering, the guy behind the drums who has gotten no mention at all, sings vocals on this song. He kind of sounds like Morrissey on Prozac, if you can imagine that. Song 11 is appropriately called "No. 13 Baby," and because of this, you now know what its like to be lied to. The song begins like it should according the Gospel of Frank Black. The vocals get a nice falsetto whine makeover. Its an interesting sound, which of course is contrasted with more controlled falsetto at other times. Santiago on guitar, who I think is also getting his first mention, does his usual: play one note, let it ring, let it feedback, let it sound awesome. For those who have seen Amadeus, Nicholas II would never tell Joey Santiago that its "too many notes." No, that will never happen. "There Goes My Gun," uses feedback, rapid strumming and a nice frantic drum beat in the chorus. The guitar work reaches a point where it becomes very relaxed and quiet (contrast dammit!) before roaring back to where it should be. Next is a great tune, "Hey." The song starts with a nice 'HEY,' before the bass and vocals are joined by a fantastic guitar tone. Its a nice out of phase Les Paul sound, I could listen to this tone for hours. As great as the guitar is in this song, look out for those vocals, especially on the verse. Frank Black really out does himself here. The delivery is very fractured, like he's trying to tell you something, but you just won't listen. He's going to keep repeating this over and over so you better just start listening.  Next up in "Silver," not to be confused with Nirvana's 'Sliver.' Just wanted to clarify that to the typically confused grunge fan. The word different doesn't really do this song justice. This song would feel at home on lots of albums, "Exile on Main Street" comes to mind right away. With slide guitar and vocals provided by Kim Deal, the song is a very primal bluesy stomp, just with a Pixies undertone. The fact that the Pixies put this on the album just tells you how bored they get with their own music. Gotta love a band with that kind of creativity. Finally, the last track arrives and its time to "Gouge Away." This song takes it back to the structure and style of the first side of the record. A little more accessible, and a little more standard it features, solid bass line, great one note guitar riffs, and whispered lyrics. It doesn't end there though, this is the Pixies...when the chorus kicks in the wall of alt rock is back. The rage in the chorus is amazing. How Frank Black does it, I'll never know. In my few brief attempts to sing nothing like this ever came out. Somehow, the title really does more than just provide a few lyrics. This song really is gouging away at you. The breakdown in the chorus has that stabbing rhythm beating the drums. The one note guitar riffs are just stabbing at the strings. I'm not sure if this was intended or not, but I gotta think they knew exactly what they were doing.

Over 14 songs crammed neatly onto one vinyl record the Pixies have created a masterpiece and a template for alternative rockers everywhere. I have to admit, I was late to the Pixies party. I was nine when Doolittle was released, that was my Huey Lewis phase. Yes, I can admit it, and you can too. After hearing Kurt Cobain speak about the wonders of the Pixies I figured it was worth a listen. Wow, now I know how my favorite band got their style.

Strongest Song: Hey, Gouge Away
Weakest Song: Probably a couple weaker tracks on the album, but they're still better than most music.
Song You Know: Here Comes Your Man
Why You Might Hate It: You dislike contrast and grunge.
Buy It? I bet you have a couple MP3s of the Pixies already, the album is worth owning, maybe on CD, but probably don't need it on vinyl.