Alternative Wednesday!
Sorry for missing last week, something involving a turkey came up. To make up for the absence of alt-rock goodness, I offer one of the big ones.
With some bands, it's hard to find a lot to talk about other than the music. Often, especially with the acts that littered the 90s, there's little to discuss other than the one song that all too briefly brought them into the limelight. Other bands have, despite their lack of chart success, made such an impact they're discussed with the reverential tones usually are only used when speaking of the masters. Even though they never hit it as big as they should have, the Pixies have unquestionably made their mark on modern rock and became one of the most influential bands of the last twenty years. The Pixies were, by all accounts, a rather contentious outfit, with various members quitting or trying to quit on a fairly regular basis. They finally ended up splitting in 1993 via fax. Yeah, Black Francis could be a classy guy at times. That being said, the band could and still does make some amazing music.
"Monkey Gone to Heaven" while not their most famous track, that would be "Where is my Mind?" for those keeping score at home, is one of my favorites. Mixing Biblical numerology, in-jokes, and an environmental message it manages to kick 16 different kinds of ass while mixing in the surf guitars and the "loud quiet loud" dynamic that they made famous and that Nirvana completely ripped off. What's really amazing, at least to me, is not only how awesome the song is from the studio as you'll see from the second video, but how good it STILL sounds twelve years after the band broke up (that's the first video).
With some bands, it's hard to find a lot to talk about other than the music. Often, especially with the acts that littered the 90s, there's little to discuss other than the one song that all too briefly brought them into the limelight. Other bands have, despite their lack of chart success, made such an impact they're discussed with the reverential tones usually are only used when speaking of the masters. Even though they never hit it as big as they should have, the Pixies have unquestionably made their mark on modern rock and became one of the most influential bands of the last twenty years. The Pixies were, by all accounts, a rather contentious outfit, with various members quitting or trying to quit on a fairly regular basis. They finally ended up splitting in 1993 via fax. Yeah, Black Francis could be a classy guy at times. That being said, the band could and still does make some amazing music.
"Monkey Gone to Heaven" while not their most famous track, that would be "Where is my Mind?" for those keeping score at home, is one of my favorites. Mixing Biblical numerology, in-jokes, and an environmental message it manages to kick 16 different kinds of ass while mixing in the surf guitars and the "loud quiet loud" dynamic that they made famous and that Nirvana completely ripped off. What's really amazing, at least to me, is not only how awesome the song is from the studio as you'll see from the second video, but how good it STILL sounds twelve years after the band broke up (that's the first video).
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