I was talking to a couple of people about this album and thought I'd do a review for those who haven't listened to it. If you like the review let me know and I'll do more. please log in to view this image Doolittle by The Pixies was the bands second studio album, released by the now legendary 4AD label. It is debatably the best album by the band, fans of Surfer Rosa may disagree and argue that point. The album was the bands first commercial success and was a solid if unspectacular success in the US and UK. 25 Years on the album is now a cult classic and rightly so, the mix of smooth bass driven tracks like Here Come Your Man that are obliterated by the tense noise driven songs like Tame are a joy for the listener. The album opens with Kim Deals now iconic bass line as we slide into "Debaser" the pop rock easy listening feel is interupted by the strange lyrics and gives the listener the sense of confusion. Undoubtebly a cool song this might be good is floating through your mind, we then move onto the second track and soon a whisper is a scream and we are blown away by "Tame". The album then settles into "Wave of Mutilation" and the feel good factor is back, the lyrics tell a story and the track has you hooked. Once again though we are shocked from our melancholy as "I Bleed" Kicks in and Francis and Deal go at it line for line in something that resembles domestic violence. "Here Comes Your Man" is next and the rollercoaster continues as we're back to something more easy listening even though the lyrics are still dark and the story unhappy the song has a feelgood factor and was a hit single in the US. We then get a mix of the bands style floating between the cool bass lines and pop feel of previous tracks and the more agressive guitar play thant marks the faster tracks "Dead" is done and gone in what seems a heartbeat and we stumble into "Monkey Gone To Heaven" and Francis hits us with numbers like a crazed prophet ranting at his audience. The guitar is then all fuzzy as"Mr Grieves" kicks in and Francis tells us the strange tale of a dead surfer out on the water. "Crackity Jones" We get Francis singing in Spanish for the first time and it always seems to up the feelgood factor. "La la Love you" and Francis is getting cheesy, changing the singing voice and having some fun, somehow it works and we sing along. "No. 13 Baby" Is the longest track on the album and it gives Santiago a chance to let rip for long periods, the melodies and noise are gone but the long riffs are a welcome change. "There Goes My Gun" Francis and Deal again share lyrics something that works so well considering their behind the cenes fighting. Probably a good idea that the gun was stolen. We then smash into "Hey" and it's a big bag of crazy noise that is a welcome change up at this point and we feel that the journey is near its end, "Silver" and we're telling stories of cowboys and robbery, we melt into the final track "Gouge Away" and as far a final tracks go it's a belter, we're dragged through the track with a mix of melody and noise the driving force, at the end it we feel violated but are begging for more.
25 years! I'm familiar with some tracks and not others with this album,kind of passed me by at the time. I'll make sure I give it a listen over the next few days Gonz Great idea by the way
