Doolittle: The sound of 90's Alternative Rock

  Ok, I'm going to start off by saying I love the Pixies. Yes, I know I say that about every artists I've mentioned on this blog but I really mean it. I've only been to three concerts in my life and two of those have been Pixies concerts. In fact, my first concert ever was when I saw the Pixies in Boston. I remember walking out of the concert in a daze with my eardrums violently ringing, it was one of the best feelings I've ever felt. The next day me and my friend where walking around Boston and actually saw Joey Santiago, the lead guitarist of the Pixies just hanging out on the street. It took my mind a couple of seconds to register the fact that I was literally right in front of fucking Joey Santiago. It's the most bizarre feeling to see someone you look up to, just hanging out on the street like a normal person. I tried to play it cool and went up to him to say that I really enjoyed the show from the night before. He accidently dropped his earbuds but was super nice and also took a picture with me and my friend. In fact, I'm going to put the picture at the end of this article and you can even see his earbuds laying on the ground, he didn't bother picking them up until after the picture. Later my friend told me he was actually using the earbuds to make a phone call, I thought he was only listening to music. So basically, I rudely interrupted his phone call, caused him to drop his earphones and after all that damage he was still polite and took a picture with us. It was so amazing to me that a rock legend could be so down to earth and nice even when I accidentally interrupted his phone call.

Ok, now that I've shared that thrilling encounter with Joey Santiago we can move on to the actual album. The Pixies have a lot of solid albums but their third album, Doolittle is what I would consider to be the best Pixies album. So many classic Pixies songs live on this album. Songs like Debaser, Here Comes Your Man and, Monkey Gone to Heaven. Debaser is the very first song on Doolittle and is the proper way to start such a great album. It has such a fast and hectic sound that pairs so great with Black Francis's wailing and surrealist vocals about slicing up eyeballs. Here comes your man is another great song off this album but it's very different then Debaser. Instead of being lead by screeching guitars its much more restrained and locked in to this really amazing and bouncy bass line played by Kim Deal. Kim Deal is one of my favorite bass players of all time and the bass line to this song was one of the first ones I ever learned. Monkey Gone to Heaven is another song off this album that I have to mention. This was the first Pixies song I ever heard and I heard it when I was a young kid playing Guitar Hero World Tour.  I didn't fall in love with the Pixies until my teenage years but a big thanks to Guitar Hero for introducing us for the first time. I'm not sure what else to say about this song besides, its just really good. One part I love in this song is when Black Francis says "rock with me Joe" before Joey Santiago goes in to the guitar solo. It's a small detail but, one I really enjoy and it gives the song character.

The Pixies are one of the biggest names in 90's alternative music. Kurt Cobain even stated that when he made Smells Like Teen Spirit he was "trying to rip off the Pixies."If you're in to alternative rock I'm guessing you've already heard the Pixies but if you haven't then definitely check them out, this album is a really good place to start.