are the pixies melodic?

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hmmm...prior to hearing them (this was many moons ago, of course) i had heard many many references to their way with pop melody. upon listening i found very little evidence of this - except for most of bossanova and maybe a couple of tracks on each of their other records. i was pretty disappointed, but persevered and came to find that they are great for *other* reasons.

why do you like the pixies? (if indeed, you do like them at all?)

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Because their songs are like being punched in the face by a beautiful but shreiking woman dressed as a whore.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Bossanova's got the best melodies, but everyone hates it.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't!

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:43 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, i don't eithre. and the whole accepted notion that surfer rosa is their best records makes me really angry. i think they got better with each record.

― Magic City (ano ano), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't either, it's the only one I like.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I said to somebody once that Bossanova was my favourite and he called me 'fag'.

― Toaster, Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Surfer Rosa is my favourite because of its brevity. All the songs are two minutes long and about being punched in the face by a drunken dog, and it's over inside 30 minutes or something. I like that it's like an electric shock or something.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:52 (twenty-one years ago)

trompe is best because it = fake metal

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:53 (twenty-one years ago)

all their records are like that.
xpost

― Magic City (ano ano), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Trompe is horrible.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:54 (twenty-one years ago)

*slow clap*

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Nah, the songs get longer. Take them over 2.30 and I lose interest. The other records are cool and all, but they're not quite as simplistically brutal and weird.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:54 (twenty-one years ago)

1 Trompe le Monde 1:46
2 Planet of Sound 2:06
3 Alec Eiffel 2:50
4 The Sad Punk 2:59
5 Head On 2:13
6 U-Mass 3:00
7 Palace of the Brine 1:34
8 Letter to Memphis 2:39
9 Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons 2:48
10 Space (I Believe In) 4:18
11 Subbacultcha 2:09
12 Distance Equals Rate Times Time 1:24
13 Lovely Day 2:05
14 Motorway to Roswell 4:43
15 The Navajo Know 2:19

― Magic City (ano ano), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:56 (twenty-one years ago)

i dont think i ever realized how short most of their songs are

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:56 (twenty-one years ago)

the songs on trompe feel so much longer because they have different parts and move in strange ways.

― Magic City (ano ano), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:57 (twenty-one years ago)

One of them is nearly FIVE MINUTES long!

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:58 (twenty-one years ago)

i believe i will listen to it now

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:58 (twenty-one years ago)

ONE of them.
xpost

― Magic City (ano ano), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 13:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Pixies. Pixies. Pixies.

Never had a "the". stop this definite article!

― ___ (___), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 14:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Another thing that bugs me is when the album is criticized as being basically black's solo album. I'm sorry but they were always his band, I don't see how this ever changed. Complaining about a lack of kim deal songs is stupid. She only ever had one song per album, and would doolittle really suffer without silver?

― Magic City (ano ano), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Ok I shall try them all again over the next few days!

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I just always thought the production on Trompe made the songs sound tinny, and the songs themselves have a rushjob feel compared with the Bossanova ones. A bad way to go out.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 14:03 (twenty-one years ago)

i think it is a more even record than bossanova. maybe not a single song as good as velouria or the happening, but the album flows in a really fun way, and there only two songs I don't love.

― Magic City (ano ano), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 14:06 (twenty-one years ago)

i dont think any of the other albums can hope to end as well as doolittle does. the "silver"/"gouge away" ending is perfect. i think this lends a lot to my opinion that doolittle is much better as an album than any of the others. that said, i should really give the ones after doolittle more of a chance. ive heard them each a few times, but wasnt really wowed...

― peter smith (plsmith), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 14:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Trompe ends better than Doolittle - poor stranded spaceman epic then a goshwow one-off about construction workers, beautiful. "Silver" is boring.

― Sad Lonely Aliens, Tuesday, 24 August 2004 14:10 (twenty-one years ago)

sad lonely aliens otm. how many times have i written that?

― Magic City (ano ano), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 14:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I always thought "Doolittle" (last one I bought) was considered their best!

As I would define them: Melodic, no. Tuneful, yes.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 14:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I've always thought Doolittle was the best, but then it's also the first one I heard. Surfer Rosa's got some great songs on it (Break My Body, Brick Is Red, Bone Machine) but a lot that are nothing special as well. The problem with Trompe Le Monde wasn't so much the heavy metal, but the obsession with aliens.

― Jamie Fake (the pirate king), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I think Doolittle' is the favourite of the average (ex?)-Pixies fan in the street, Surfer Rosa is the favourite of people who take their indie rock quite seriously and Trompe Le Monde is the favourite of the average contrarian (old?)-ILMer.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:03 (twenty-one years ago)

who are the bossa nova ppl?

― g--ff (gcannon), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:04 (twenty-one years ago)

are they gay?

― g--ff (gcannon), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:04 (twenty-one years ago)

come on pilgrim pickers are just beyond hope, i expect

― g--ff (gcannon), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:05 (twenty-one years ago)

My faves in order are Rosa/Doolittle/LeMonde/Pilgrim/Bossanova but they're all fuckin' brilliant.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Doolittle's got the most hits but Rosa's got ambience. LeMonde has the most blitz and Bossanova is the dreamiest. Pilgrim's raw and demoey without the Albinage. Valid reasons to love all.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Surfer Rosa = VU & Nico
Trompe LeMonde = White Light/White Heat
Doolittle = Velvet Underground (or maybe Loaded)
Bossanova = Loaded (or maybe Velvet Underground)

they just did their White Light later cuz they forgot to do it earlier.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I just always thought the production on Trompe made the songs sound tinny

This is kind of true of all their albums, at least the post-Surfer Rosa ones.

Bossanova was the first one I got and I liked it pretty well, but then I got Trompe Le Monde which I played incessantly for weeks. Now I rarely feel the need to listen to them.

― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

i listened to trompe le monde a few months ago for the first time since 91 (when i listened to it twice maybe)(though 'alec eiffel' and 'head on' and 'umass' got some airplay on the modern rock station)('head on' kinda an mtv hit too) - i was blown away at how much better it was than i remembered. now i'm thinking doolittle's their worst and that it ain't even that close to the others (it'd make an incredible ep though).

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Bossanova's my incredible EP one. the filler on that annoys me a lot more than Doolittle's.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

o but the filler on bossanova shows you just how filler is done (son). the filler on doolittle is the fucking drummer singing. plus when the production sludges on doolittle it really sludges.

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:31 (twenty-one years ago)

"Stormy Weather" isn't how filler is done in my book (though that "jefrey with one f" on trompe is their peak of pure hell except for when francis sings the perry mason theme). Lots of people love "La La Love You," man. And when Bossanova is gauzy it's REALLY gauzy.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:33 (twenty-one years ago)

man but Bossanova's the concept album, man.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the one with the drummer singing.

― Jamie Fake (the pirate king), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:34 (twenty-one years ago)

You call "La La Love You" filler? That's one of my favorites.

*frowns*

xxx-post

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Bossanova's the concept album? how so?

(and you guys ever listen to Doolittle by the track listing in the liner notes? It flows a little better, "Crackity Jones" and "Mr. Grieves" aren't back to back)

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I love 'Stormy Weather'! It's like "woah woah woah it is FUCKING time for stormy weather" without swearing.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:37 (twenty-one years ago)

IT'S ABOUT SPACE ALIENS AND THE WEST.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:37 (twenty-one years ago)

as I said above though, there are obvious qualities why each of the full-lengths could reasonably be somebody's favorite (surf and spaciousness is on Bossanova like no other)

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think I mind Pixies filler. It's Pixies 'annoying' that ruins things for me (ie. 'Dig For Fire', 'Monkey Gone To Heaven' and 'Gigantic' (a bit).

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:38 (twenty-one years ago)

i know lots of people LOVE 'la la love you' - lots of people LOVE when eddie brings wolfgang out on stage to play or when cher put that retarded kid she had with gregg allman in here videos - DOESN'T CHANGE ANYTHING. gimme gauzy over sludge, black francis taling in his sleep vs him trying to get (and keep) my attention.

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:38 (twenty-one years ago)

jesus christ alba - are you sure you even like the pixies???

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Pixies. Pixies. Pixies.
1. Doolittle
2. Bossanova
3. Surfer Rosa
4. Collected B-Sides
5. Tromple Le Monde

― Star Cauliflower (Star Cauliflower), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:39 (twenty-one years ago)

track listing is only way i will listen to doolittle now - otherwise waaaay to sludgy

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:39 (twenty-one years ago)

For a long, long time Bossanova was my favorite, but then I went populist and currently favor Doolittle. It's got more songs that are fun to sing along with in the car.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

they had much more proper 'melody' before they ever walked into fort apache, but who needs melody when your skull is cracked open

― kephm, Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Jesus Christ, Alba, those are the best songs.
Anyone going to Bumbershoot in Seattle?

― Star Cauliflower (Star Cauliflower), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Gil Norton refused to allow 'Dig For Fire' on Doolittle!

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

C'mon man American West = Space Exploration = "Final" Frontier people get with me.

"Dig For Fire" = going to the earth's core, same diff.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

wow yeah thanks to Alba's "the worst songs are the classics" post I feel no need to debate with anybody.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:43 (twenty-one years ago)

'Dig For Fire' and 'Monkey Gone To Heaven' just have that annoying smug air of 'woo - here's a crazy-assed story!!!' about them. Which I somehow don't get with say, the awesome 'The Happening'. I actually believe that he believes in that story. Maybe it's the lack of repetitive wacky chorus.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't even imagine "Dig For Fire" being on Doolittle. Where would it go in the running order?

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:44 (twenty-one years ago)

'here comes your man' is the only song i cant dig, oh and most of Trompe

― kephm, Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

btw anyone read the spin cover (second issue of spin i've bought this year!)(decade?)(the other so fucking obv. and pathetic i will not mention it) - black francis: still a dick!

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:47 (twenty-one years ago)

'Here Comes Your Man' is beautiful and always makes me sad. The verses, not the chorus. Maybe I don't like Pixies choruses.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:47 (twenty-one years ago)

he's so fucking anal!

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:50 (twenty-one years ago)

sorry professor, i didn't know rock'n'roll had a starting time and a curfew!

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:51 (twenty-one years ago)

well albini comes off as less cranky than you in an interview it might be time for a relaxing day spa visit

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

awww, I thought they were all just super in that article (which inspired playing every album, watching the DVD, deciding to buy that SpinArt demos thing and the b-sides disc and basically jumping around saying "pixies! pixies!" all night)

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:54 (twenty-one years ago)

i haven't read the spin article, but i sort of thought black had relaxed some, not sure why. in the GQ interview last year, he hints to reforming the band because he was broke from his divorce.

― kephm, Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:55 (twenty-one years ago)

they all acknowledge the value of $$$$ in that article and I appreciated that candor. If you do what they did from 1987-1991 I don't care if you dance around Pepsi bottles for the rest of your life, get your money.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:57 (twenty-one years ago)

annoying smug air of 'woo - here's a crazy-assed story!'

The only way (the) Pixies could have been better would be if Black Francis started off every song yelling "WOO - HERE'S A CRAZY ASSED STORY!"

― Nick Mirov (nick), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 15:59 (twenty-one years ago)

If you do what they did from 1987-1991 I don't care if you dance around Pepsi bottles for the rest of your life, get your money.

um, I doubt they were that poor for most of that period.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:01 (twenty-one years ago)

how does that even follow what he said?

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:02 (twenty-one years ago)

The only way (the) Pixies could have been better would be if Black Francis started off every song yelling "WOO - HERE'S A CRAZY ASSED STORY!"

With the magic of digital editing and a passable Black Francis impression, this joy could be yours.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Other thing commonly forgotten about the Pixies, other than the short song lengths: they released an album a year!

Anyway, I like everything they did, even the filler.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:03 (twenty-one years ago)

jess I got the impression he was saying that from 1987-1991 they "paid some dues."

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't be bothered to scroll upthread - did he actually say "paid some Jews"?

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:05 (twenty-one years ago)

i think he just meant 'they ruled'

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:05 (twenty-one years ago)

A dry tour with the likes of those people, sounds PAINFUL.

Bossanova is my fav.

― ddb (ddb), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:05 (twenty-one years ago)

ah i took it as a "quality of work" type thing

xpost

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Cinniblount OTM. I was saying they were making music that I love so much that I'll be damned if I'm gonna bother getting my panties in a knot if they decided to spend the next two decades screaming "Coke is it!"

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:06 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost to jess - yeah I realize now he could've meant that too.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:06 (twenty-one years ago)

call me a cynic but if you make two great albums or more you're off the hook for life. I won't laud or necessarily buy the later stuff, but you're free from indie guilt slavery.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:07 (twenty-one years ago)

only two?

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:08 (twenty-one years ago)

as I said, call me a cynic. You won't be my hero, but I won't piss on your grave.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:10 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd think you'd be more of a cynic if your criteria was more than two.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

the tour shirts i saw at coachella read "sell out tour", i was drunk, so it took me a second to get it

― kephm, Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

and I mean "great" great. My inner Xgau believes that one side of the album is perfect and the other half is as whole quite strong great.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

(ie: haha, who cares, $$ is nice)

― kephm, Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

it's not cynical to believe that two great albums is so atpyical that you're free from all concepts of artistic morality and business ethics for the rest of your life (within legal boundaries)?

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:12 (twenty-one years ago)

naw I thought it'd be cynical to have a higher standard, like you're so jaded because consistent perfection is impossible or something.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

that's kinda what I'm saying. People who flip out that a band "sold out" assume that's a crime on the artist's part and they could still be making glorious works. Me, I just don't care. Rod Stewart, go play.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I might feel otherwise if I didn't get to know Stewart and Aerosmith as fun music video poodles in my youth rather than as True Rockers.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:19 (twenty-one years ago)

plus if you unflaggingly believe in the glory of Rock and Indie than you're a masochistic fuck for watching TV in the first place.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:20 (twenty-one years ago)

it wasn't always like that, y'know.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:43 (twenty-one years ago)

"sold out" = making artistic concessions purely to increase audience and cash as opposed to organic change in music.

― jack cole (jackcole), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

the Pixies sell out *CLAP!* every night

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Miccio = Newstead?

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Anthony Miccio is a hero. Seriously dude, you rock.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 16:59 (twenty-one years ago)

*smiles, nods, signs autograph, gets in bus for next Voivod gig*

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 17:02 (twenty-one years ago)

So much Trompe hate! I love Trompe. In fact, the title track, "U-Mass" and "Letter to Memphis" are among my fave Pixies tunes.

― phil d., Tuesday, 24 August 2004 18:20 (twenty-one years ago)

i love Trompe Le Monde as well.

"The problem with Trompe Le Monde wasn't so much the heavy metal, but the obsession with aliens."

but that's part of why i like it!

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 18:32 (twenty-one years ago)

My favorite Pixies moment actually occurs in "Letter to Memphis."

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 18:33 (twenty-one years ago)

i love that opening riff on "Letter to Memphis", it's so massive and memorable

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 18:34 (twenty-one years ago)

it's strange, I like the Pixies when I hear them - I know the tunes, I like the riffs/aesthetic, etc. - and yet, I never have the urge to listen to them. I almost never pull out their stuff and think to myself "I feel like some Pixies right now". My reaction to their whole reunion thing was "who cares? oh, you do? but, uhm, why?"

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 24 August 2004 18:38 (twenty-one years ago)

"And all these sirens they make me mad
And all this violence it brings me down"

When the chord progression changes a little bit and Frank sings with a bit more emotion, it just sends a little chill down my spine.

x-post

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 18:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I admit that upon opening this thread, I CTRL-F'ed "Geir".

― alex in montreal, Tuesday, 24 August 2004 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

whoah. i always thought it was "sidewalks" not sirens. Weird. Aren't the lyrics printed in the booklet? I should have known that. Anyway that song is ace.

― Magic City (ano ano), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, I always thought it was "sorrows" instead of "sirens." I only discovered the truth through Google before I made the post.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 19:13 (twenty-one years ago)

trompe has "motorway to roswell" = it wins

― tricky disco (disco stu), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 19:59 (twenty-one years ago)

(because of the coda imho)

― tricky disco (disco stu), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 20:00 (twenty-one years ago)

that coda is something gorgeous

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 August 2004 20:01 (twenty-one years ago)

(its funtyping like a retard)

anyways, now i really must listen to all my pixies records again.
you guys have got me all worked up.

― m,ark am marr ma mark, Wednesday, 25 August 2004 09:13 (twenty-one years ago)

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