Review
The Pixies' groundbreaking second album, "Doolittle," was a seismic shift in their sound when it dropped in April 1989. Working with producer Gil Norton, they propelled their music in a new, more radio-friendly direction without shedding the eccentric edge that made them so compelling. The resulting album boasts a thrilling dynamic, thanks to the interplay between quiet tension and explosive release in tracks like "Debaser" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven."
Joey Santiago's distorted guitars and Kim Deal's pulsing basslines buttress lead vocalist Black Francis's literary explorations of darkness, surrealism, and biblical allegory. On "Debaser," for instance, he channels the surrealist masterminds Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí's notoriously radical film collaboration, "Un Chien Andalou." The vivid nightmares and surreal tangles here reflect Black Francis's uncommon vision as a lyricist.
By the time "Doolittle" hit the markets, it was an instant coronation – particularly in Britain, where the album grabbed a fistful of Album of the Year nods from the top music weeklies. As commercial success piled up – Gold status in the US, a robust presence on the American Alternative charts – Pixies unearthed the bedrock for the sound shifts that followed. It laid tracks in the earth as if "Doolittle" had been meant all this while to serve as a blueprint for the thriving alternative universe that followed in the 90s – full of grunge, edge, depth. - Riley
Artist Bio
Pixies are an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1985 by Black Francis, Joey Santiago, Kim Deal, and David Lovering. Their music, starting with releases like *Come On Pilgrim* (1987) and *Surfer Rosa* (1988), helped define the alternative rock genre with a mix of punk, indie rock, and noise pop, producing classics like “Where Is My Mind?” and “Gigantic.” Originally signed to 4AD, their album *Doolittle* reached gold certification and became one of their most recognized works. The band broke up in 1993 but returned in 2004 and has continued to release new records and tour with various lineups. Fans of bands like Sonic Youth, The Breeders, and Nirvana will find Pixies’ dynamic sound and influence hard to miss in the landscape of modern rock.
