Through the demise of Tyler Durden in the movie adaption of Chuck Palahniuk’s psychological thriller Fight Club, the song “Where is My Mind?” by The Pixies became an overnight classic. While Black Francis has everyone in the audience singing “With your feet in the air and your head on the ground”, to the non-music elitist The Pixies are no more than a one hit wonder band. However, those who have explored the band beyond Fight Club have come to love Black Francis’ lyrical genius paired with Kim Deal’s thick bass lines.
The album that I personally feel best showcases the band’s innovative and unique sound is their 1989 release Doolittle. The album starts off with “Debaser”, an upbeat kicker that pays homage to the surrealistic Salvador Dali flick Un Chien Andalou. One of the more lyrically exceptional tracks, “Wave of Mutilation” is filled with underwater riffs and slow drumbeats, perfect for a rainy drive. “Here Comes Your Man” is a song that embodies 1960’s beach parties with catchy lyrics and upbeat guitar licks. Francis Black croons a crusade against the destruction of the natural world in “Monkey Gone to Heaven”. In whistle-along hit “La La Love You” drummer David Lovering appropriately takes over vocals. The song is a tongue-in-cheek ode to love versus lust as Lovering sings, "All I'm saying pretty baby La la love you, don't mean maybe." One of the best songs on the album, “Hey”, starts off with a mellow bass riff and a duet between Black Francis and Kim Deal. As the subtle guitar and drums join in Francis repeats, “We’re chained” over and over again paralleled to a whiney guitar squeal. There’s something terribly heartfelt and incredibly beautiful about the way Black Francis croaks, “If you go, I will surely die”. The last song to look out for on Doolittle is the rough gem “Gouge Away”. One of the more grungy tracks, “Gouge Away” is an angrily vocalized rendition of the biblical story of Samson. With clenched teeth Francis grits “Gouge away, you can gouge away, stay all day, if you want to”.
Overall the whole album is a myriad of musical styles that maintain the same insanity of Francis’ artistic genius. The marriage between Kim Deal’s simplistic vocals and Francis’ howls and screeches creates
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