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Shuffle of the week #34

1. Grandaddy – The Warming Sun (Sumday, 2003) [singlepic id=300 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Indie pop from Modesto, California, with the voice of singer Jason Lytle (a former professional skateboarder) resembling Neil Young’s one on this track. Unfortunately, the same can not be said about the lyrics.

2. Pixies – Vamos (Surfer Rosa, 1988) [singlepic id=243 w=80 h=50 float=left]

One of the Pixies’ songs that open with a monologue, from Black Francis this time, after which the acoustic guitar and pounding bass drum kick off the song for real. The first version of this song appeared on the band’s debut album Come On Pilgrim, just like ‘Isla de Encanta’ (and ‘Crackity Jones from Doolittle ) drawing upon Francis’ adventures in Puerto Rico.

3. Spirit – Morning Will Come (Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, 1970) [singlepic id=303 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Finally, seems like years ago that I listened to this. Penultimate track on the fourth and probably best album of Spirit, an eclectic rock band that was founded (like so many others) in California ’67. Released some very good albums during the late sixties, with Led Zeppelin being their support act at live gigs (Spirit’s influence is clearly traceable on later Zep records). This song at his turn reminds of David Bowie with a small touch of Josh Homme during the chorus.

4. Jimi Hendrix Experience – Foxy Lady (Are You Experienced, 1967) [singlepic id=25 w=80 h=50 float=left]

King of riffs, that was also used by Jimmy Page during later Led Zeppelin gigs, when it was one of the many improvisations that would come up during the instrumental powertrip on ‘Dazed and Confused’. And of course a well-known favorite of Sir Paul McCartney, who plays it now and then after ‘Let Me Roll It’.

5. The Doors – Roadhouse Blues (Morrison Hotel, 1970) [singlepic id=304 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Back to the American Westcoast with another uptempo track including shrilling guitars, while the other Jim of the ’27 club’ shouts.  The Doors immediately abandoned the experimental direction from the previous album (The Soft Parade) on the very first track of Morrison Hotel, with a safe and satisfactory return to psychedelic and blues rock.

6. Queen – Don’t Try So Hard (Innuendo, 1991) [singlepic id=302 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Death all over again, with Queen’s last album before the death of Mercury. No safe return to a familiar sound for Freddy however, as he tries to imitate Kate Bush here before the guitars give this track some dignity.

7. Robert Palmer – Come Over (Double Fun,1978) [singlepic id=185 w=80 h=50 float=left]

That makes five death singers in a row (Spirit’s Randy California died in 1997). Funky song (Stevie Wonder will endorse that), being one of the highlights on a rather mediocre album. Palmer really shows his instrumental skills here, playing guitar, bass, drums, percussion, drums and keyboards on this one.

8. Beulah – Sunday Under Glass (When Your Heartstrings Break, 1999) [singlepic id=299 w=80 h=50 float=left]

More indie rock from California, San Francisco this time. Band that was discovered by Apples in Stereo singer Robert Schneider from Elephant 6. Have to give it another try.

9. Meat Puppets – Lake of Fire (Meat Puppets II, 1984) [singlepic id=301 w=80 h=50 float=left]

One of the three songs from this album that were covered by Nirvana during their legendary unplugged performance. This less polished version however creates the right atmosphere to its lyrics.

10. The Beatles – Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967) [singlepic id=267 w=80 h=50 float=left]

Closing with the circus song from Pepper, that was played live for the first time ever last year by Paul McCartney, after he revealed it is partially his song. Henry the Horse did not speak out on the subject yet.

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“And if the Devil is 6 then God is 7 ”: Doolittle (Pixies)

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Year: 1989

Genre: Alternative Rock

Preceded by: Surfer Rosa (1988)

Followed by: Bossanova (1990)

Related to: Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin II

 

 

What do Sgt. Peppers, Meddle, White Light/White Heat and Doolittle have in common? They are all among the respective bands’ best albums, with the absolute masterpiece at the very end of it. It’s 1989 and Pixies are at the center of the emerging alternative rock scene.

The Pixies formed in Boston in 1986, when singer Black Francis and lead guitarist Joey Santiago met at University. Kim Deal was the only person that responded to their absurd advert for a bass player and so she joined them without ever having played the instrument. After contacting drummer David Lovering and a random look in the dictionary they had a new band: Pixies. After releasing a first EP (Come On Pilgrim), the first LP quickly (it was completed in two weeks) followed in the beginning of 1988: Surfer Rosa. The raw guitar sound with little surf rock ingredients and the yowling voice of Francis gained the band acclaim in Europe.

So as measured by their record sellings, the Pixies were initially most successful in the UK. In the US, their music found its way to the listening crowd through the underground music scene, which was flourishing during the late eighties. While the radio stations played new wave and hair metal, youngsters were looking for pure guitar music and the Pixies offered them exactly what they desired. Together with bands like Sonic Youth they even nurtured the new subgenre of ‘grunge’. Kurt Cobain himself loved the band so much he wished he was in it. You can ask yourself which music stimulated the Pixies themselves to pick up this raw rock sound again. Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin (especially Led Zeppelin II) are often cited, just like Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s distorted guitar sound. But each time I listen to Doolittle, it sounds to me like a modern remake of The Beatles‘ White Album, with short uptempo tracks like ‘Glass Onion’ (with muscular intros and a scream now and then), happy melodic songs like ‘Bungalow Bill’ (with ‘naked’ verses and heavily orchestrated choruses) and simple musical intermezzo’s like ‘Why Don’t We Do It in the Road’.

First of all, Doolittle has a much cleaner sound than its predecessor, probably due to the quadrupled budget. Contrasting with this sound are the dark subject lyrics, ranging from surrealism to death and whores. No surprise the original album title was Whore, as Francis (who wrote all tracks) was inspired by the biblical figure of the whore of Babylon. All songs are separate shots of different kind of energies, which are launched at such a speed by their masterly intros that they’re already over before you know it. I think there’s only one ‘weak’ track on it (‘Dead’), and even that one has a nice sinister intro.

The other 14 tracks can be categorized in four kind of songs. First there are the happy sixties sounding songs that can bring you into a good mood on every moment of the day. ‘Wave of Mutilation’ for example has some very melodic vocals, reminding of the early Velvet Underground. Didn’t know until recently that the song is actually about suicidal Japanese businessmen. Even better is ‘Here Comes Your Man’, including catchy Byrds-style guitar riffs and some beautiful vocal harmonies in the chorus. No surprise this song was the commercial break-through for the band. At the same level is ‘Monkey Gone to Heaven’, which gave the inspiration for the album cover. It also has the riffs and harmonies, with the lyrics being about environmental disaster. The song features one of the absolute highlights of the album, being the crescendo bridge towards the end where Francis screams that God is seven. The ultimate sixties song on the album however is without any doubt ‘La La Love You’. It has this awesome intro and it’s sung by drummer David Lovering, who happens to sound exactly like The Smiths’ Morrisey.

Still melodic but averagely shorter and slower songs are ‘I Bleed’ (with this typical Pixies bassline), ‘Mr. Grieves’ (a kind of beatlesque sing along), ‘There Goes My Gun’ and (to a lesser extent) ‘Silver’. ‘There Goes My Gun’ always sounds to me like a retake of ‘Here Comes Your Man’, with the title covering all the songs’ lyrics. ‘Silver’ to the contrary prolly is the strangest song on the album, however very interesting. I think I can describe it best as Kate Bush meets some seventies instrumental western band like The Buoys. So are there also any longer tracks on the album? Yes, ‘No. 13 Baby’ and ‘Hey’, lasting 3’51” and 3’31” respectively. The first one really stands out for me because of its awesome instrumental outro. For one time, it’s not about the intro and the band takes its time for some pure instrumental performance like they did on Surfer Rosa. ‘Hey’ forms a beautiful tandem with this one and is even better, definitely a personal favorite.

What’s left are those songs that really defined that typical Pixies sound throughout the years: pounding drums, distorted guitars, yowling vocals and the characterizing soft-loud approach. First of all the album opener: ‘Debaser’. Already during the first 30 seconds of the song you get the idea that this album is about guitar music. Call it a ‘grunge-light’ song, with it’s clear bass notes and the surrealistic lyrics with references to movies like Eraserhead and Un chien andalou. This song immediately flows over into ‘Tame’. It can’t get more ‘quiet dynamic to sudden loud’ than this. The verses feature a simple bassriff and basic drums, ready to end up in a screaming chorus each time, bringing aggression into alternative rock.

Another ‘musical intermezzo’ is ‘Crackity Jones’, but a much more uptempo one than the melodic ‘There Goes My Gun’. Like ‘Tame’, the basic drum is there, the tempo is there and the aggressiveness is there. It just sounds like some crazy Spanish punk song, and happens to be about a former roommate of Francis, a ‘weird psycho gay’ according to his own words. But the absolute masterpiece (imho) is of course the final track: ‘Gouge Away’. The delicious guitar riff, the sharp vocals, the perfect soft-loud progression, this will always be an all-time classic for me.

Pixies released some more albums after Doolittle, but disbanded already in 1993 after tensions between Francis and Deal. Francis subsequently persecuted a solo career and Deal had success with her new band The Breeders. However, they never reached the same level again as on Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, two albums that can not be compared because of their different styles, but still both sound like masterpieces. Thom Yorke once said that, while he was in school, the Pixies changed his life. Maybe the same can happen to you, whether you’re in school or not.

Top Tracks:
1. Gouge Away
2. Here Comes Your Man
3. Hey