I had no idea who The Pixies were but their single "Monkey Gone To Heaven" topped the Indie Singles Chart and seemed to be in top 5 for ages, even if it didn't crack the mainstream Top 50. I had never heard it ! When I finally got to hear it I thought it was really good, so I took a punt on buying the album which included it.
Being a big fan of The Cure I had always liked music where the bass was to the fore, so naturally I took a liking to Doolitte.
Doolittle contained numerous great bass patterns and backing vocals from Kim Deal, a formula subsequently copied by The Lemonheads on their "It's A Shame About Ray" and "Come on Feel The Lemonheads" albums.
The album had 15 short songs, so if you don't like one there would be another one along soon. However, I thought every track was brilliant !
The term Grunge hadn't been coined at the time. If it had, it probably would have been applied to The Pixies, especially as Nirvana were heavily influenced by them. As it was, Doolittle had a mixture of styles. Whilst much of it could be labelled alternative rock or indie, there were also moments of pop, surf, screeching guitars, new wave, punk and even spaghetti western !
Regardless of the genre, Doolittle showcased The Pixies habit of having soft, quiet verses and loud choruses. Or slow, slow, quick, quick slow as one critic dubbed it.
I didn't really listen to the lyrics so I had no idea of the themes on the album, I just liked the sound. Only later did I learnt that the emphasis was on religion, violence, torture and death !
I thought Doolittle it was a tremendous album and thought songs such as "Debaser", "Wave of Mutilation", "Here Comes Your Man", "Monkey's Gone To Heaven", "Mr Grieves", "Hey" and "Gouge Away" were outstanding.
Looking at the track listing now there were only four tracks I couldn't remember, so this was going to be an enjoyable re-listen.
Side one begins in some style with "Debaser" which has a bass intro, a great guitar line, shouty vocals,some thrash and a great tune. I later saw it refereed to as punk/surf which seems to be a good description.
"Tame" is next and is possibly the most typical of the quiet verse, loud chorus song performances of The Pixies. It has a bass and drums intro, then a whispered vocal until the thrash comes in.
"Wave of Mutilation" is another strong tune whilst "I Bleed" is slow and has joint vocals from Frontman Black Francis and Kim Deal.
"Here Comes Your Man" is a great toe tapping pop song. I love the guitar riff and overall pacing of the song.
"Dead" has some screech guitar, funky bass and shouty vocals. A great guitar break bursts through the noise.
"Monkey Gone To Heaven" closes side one. Another slow, quiet verse with bass and strings before a , glorious chorus and then a guitar break similar to the one on The Cure's "Strange Day". The lyrics "if Man is five, and the Devil is six, then God is seven, this monkey's gone to heaven" are at the core of the song.
Side two opens with "Mr Grieves" which has an almost ska guitar intro, a slow verse, then switches to fast punk/hillbilly before slowing down again. "Hope everything's all right"
"Crackity Jones" is frantic noise but a tune breaks out.
"La La Love You" has a crooning vocal from drummer David Lovering. There's a drum intro, some whistling, great guitar, and acoustic guitar at the end
"No 13 Baby" is another track with toe-tapping bass, a stressed vocal, screeching guitar and a long outro, with bass and acoustic guitar and then a superb guitar line. It is actually track 11 on the album, and I've no idea what No 13 means in the song !
"There Goes My Gun" has the type of beat that would be in a Western film, and even has a spaghetti western style guitar break.
"Hey" has a lovely switch from verse to the chorus. There is more great bass and tender guitar lines "Hey, been trying to meet you".
"Silver" the only Kim Deal song on the album. It's very slow, conjures up images of a deserted town in a Western film. Deal even plays the slide guitar. "In this land of strangers, there are dangers, there are sorrows"
The album finishes with the excellent "Gouge Away", which has more great driving bass leading into fast chorus, then back to slower beat. It is perhaps the ultimate Pixies track. "You can gouge away, stay all day if you want to".
In summary, I really enjoyed listening to Doolittle again and it remains a fantastic album !
Track Listing :
Side One :
1. Debaser
2. Tame
3. Wave of Mutilation
4. I Bleed
5. Here Comes Your Man
6. Dead
7. Monkey Gone To Heaven
1. Mr Grieves
2. Crackity Jones
3. La La Love You
4. No. 13 Baby
5. There Goes My Gun
6. Hey
7. Silver
8. Gouge Away
Released 1989
UK Chart Position : 8
Singles :
Monkey Gone To Heaven ( No 60 - 1989 )
Here Comes Your Man ( No 56 - 1989 )
Debaser ( No 23 - 1997 )
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