Top Five Songs by The Pixies
The roommates and I did this last week.
The Pixies were not an easy band to listen to at first. They started to grow once I could handle their unique aesthetic for music. They have a certain raw power, constantly mixing an aggressive yet soothing nature in their music, almost making them somewhat psychadelic. Really, that tiny description could pretty much explain the songs of my choice. Here's my top five:
5 - Alec Eiffel (from Trompe Le Monde). "He thought big, they called it a phallic/They didn't know he was panoramic." Love that line. A great song pitting the famous architect as the universal misunderstood person who ended up making something that would later be loved and recognized around the world.
4 - Rock Music (from Bossanova). Frank Black just about loses it on this song, and I love it! If anything it's probably a big joke that the Pixies make about what a lot of people think of rock music: lots of feedback, pointless yelling, barely a tonal center, can't understand the words, but who cares? It's fun, right?
3 - Where Is My Mind? (from Surfer Rosa). The ultimate surreal song by the Pixies. Kim Deal's "oooooh's" echoing in the background accompanied with a rare moment of Frank Black maintaining more colorful, tuneful singing makes this arguably the one song that puts fans in that "dreamy" state. That, and the song title fits the song PERFECTLY.
2 - Monkey Gone to Heaven (from Doolittle). I like how the band made this song with the intention of having meaningless lyrics that they knew people would try to interpret. For me, it's all about forgetting interpretation, accepting something simply on impressionistic value, and, well, listening.
1 - Debaser (from Doolittle). Full of energy, and it represents everything the Pixies wanted to accomplish in writing music. Off the wall lyrics that at a glance don't make sense, and maybe they don't except that Black sings about his reflection upon seeing the movie Un Chien Andalou. Catchy guitar and bass lines, and in short, a largely momentous song that had to be the opener for their album Dootlittle. No song of theirs is more addicting than this one.