I think that in another world, I could easily have been a Pixies fan. As it happens, I wasn't plugged in enough to more independent music outlets when they were ascendent, and then when I was plugged in, I was done with everything but punk for a few years.
I only got the lyrics to "Debaser" because I was a Film major and we had to watch Un Chien Andalou in class, which was one of the first surrealist movies with "effects" where someone slices an eyeball. How that equates to being a "debaser" is beyond me. But I still love the song.
It's an absolute classic. At a time when so many great new sounds and styles were coming out of college/alternative rock, Doolittle upped the ante by sounding like no one else. As the media around alternative rock grew, it was fun to learn the lineage of my favorite bands -- REM borrowing from Patti Smith and VU, for example -- but The Pixies had no obvious touchstones.
It's also near and dear to my heart because the first time I talked to my future wife early in the summer of 1989, she mentioned she was listening to this and I wasn't hip to them yet. She also turned me on to Fugazi. Good sign. ;-) Our 33rd anniversary was last Saturday.
I had no idea what any of the lyrics were (though I sang along anyway lol) until one day, a few months ago, I was singing along and realized the line "slicing up eyeballs" is the name of a Facebook group centered on 80s college rock! https://www.facebook.com/slicingupeyeballs Obviously, the song is where they got their name! I had always wondered why it was named that LOL!!
LOVE this album!! It's my favorite Pixies album. I still include songs from it on playlists! I think last year at the November RSD, this album was one I wanted to get - can't remember if it was a picture disk or what was special about it...but, had I gone, I was hoping to walk out with it. It was way too cold and rainy to stand in line for hours though, so I didn't.
The most influential rock band of the 80s-90s. Song structures are absolutely unique. I remember when everyone was bummed because Bossanova was so "conventional." Ha!
I was turning 12 in '89 and discovered Doolittle through a taped C90 from my older brother. It's one of those rare albums that is full of instant hooks, but also never seems to get tired with repeated listening. The song structures are suitably varied, it's full of energy, jagged rawness and sweet choruses, with Kim Deal's popping, loping bass underpinning it all. Listening to it again today, after reading this, it reminded me just how bloody influential it was! Thanks for the rewind, Kevin...
I always thought “Here Comes Your Man” was an ironic cover of some classic 50’s/60’s pop song.
Slightly off topic, “Shiny Happy People” is one of the few REM tracks that I still listen to, but only because Kate Pierson (B-52’s) kills it on backing vocals.
Got to see them tour Doolittle in NZ and still powerful and potent. I think this was 7 years ago. Also has one of the greatest love songs earworm...LA LA love you...
Literally listening to this as I read. Absolutely bonkers, in the best possible sense of that word. This is like hearing a sampler CD from Absolutely Bonkers Records.
I think Here Comes Your Man is perfect on the album precisely because it is not bonkers, in and of itself, which just adds to the overall bonkers-ness of the album. How is that even the same band ? Its like if I Wanna Hold Your Hand was inserted into the middle of Magical Mystery Tour.
Not sure how anyone writes a plain and straightforward review of an album that is anything but, but kudos for pulling off that trick Kevin :)
The fascinating thing, at least for me at the time and still, is how immediate and profound their influence was on bands that got much bigger a year or two later—in particular, is there "Nevermind" or the Blue Album we know and love without "Doolittle"? I don't think so.
I love Doolittle, and it was the last rock record I bought before spending five years listening to nothing but jazz (which meant that I missed grunge until way too late). But I've come to realise in recent years that perhaps the most interesting thing about that record is the tracklist. Those exact same songs in a different order would not be anywhere near as strong a record as this one is. It's one of the best examples ever of "these songs in THIS order make the album work". Something that often gets overlooked when talking about how good and, indeed, how smart Doolittle is.
The pain of not wanting to give a tape back was real back in those days. I feel you. I almost lost a friend over a copy of Sgt. Peppers that I not only didn't return, but committed the cardinal sin of pretending I hadn't borrowed it in the first place. I might have gotten away with it, too, if he hadn't come over and seen the case on my tape deck. I was a criminal, but not a good one.
I'm also struck that Doolittle is 35, and Frank Black hasn't spoken 35 words of banter combined at all his shows since then. Can't call that dude chatty.
"but in 1989, they didn't exist yet, And Pixies don't really sound like anyone else, either."
Except The Gun Club (at least their first album, Fire of Love).
Play "Ghost on the Highway" or "Sex Beat" for any Pixies fan, sit back and watch the confusion... and then tell them it came out in 1981, and was from an LA band.
I think that in another world, I could easily have been a Pixies fan. As it happens, I wasn't plugged in enough to more independent music outlets when they were ascendent, and then when I was plugged in, I was done with everything but punk for a few years.
I only got the lyrics to "Debaser" because I was a Film major and we had to watch Un Chien Andalou in class, which was one of the first surrealist movies with "effects" where someone slices an eyeball. How that equates to being a "debaser" is beyond me. But I still love the song.
It's an absolute classic. At a time when so many great new sounds and styles were coming out of college/alternative rock, Doolittle upped the ante by sounding like no one else. As the media around alternative rock grew, it was fun to learn the lineage of my favorite bands -- REM borrowing from Patti Smith and VU, for example -- but The Pixies had no obvious touchstones.
It's also near and dear to my heart because the first time I talked to my future wife early in the summer of 1989, she mentioned she was listening to this and I wasn't hip to them yet. She also turned me on to Fugazi. Good sign. ;-) Our 33rd anniversary was last Saturday.
I had no idea what any of the lyrics were (though I sang along anyway lol) until one day, a few months ago, I was singing along and realized the line "slicing up eyeballs" is the name of a Facebook group centered on 80s college rock! https://www.facebook.com/slicingupeyeballs Obviously, the song is where they got their name! I had always wondered why it was named that LOL!!
LOVE this album!! It's my favorite Pixies album. I still include songs from it on playlists! I think last year at the November RSD, this album was one I wanted to get - can't remember if it was a picture disk or what was special about it...but, had I gone, I was hoping to walk out with it. It was way too cold and rainy to stand in line for hours though, so I didn't.
ABSOLUTE STONE COLD CLASSIC!! Maybe even, legendary?
The most influential rock band of the 80s-90s. Song structures are absolutely unique. I remember when everyone was bummed because Bossanova was so "conventional." Ha!
I was turning 12 in '89 and discovered Doolittle through a taped C90 from my older brother. It's one of those rare albums that is full of instant hooks, but also never seems to get tired with repeated listening. The song structures are suitably varied, it's full of energy, jagged rawness and sweet choruses, with Kim Deal's popping, loping bass underpinning it all. Listening to it again today, after reading this, it reminded me just how bloody influential it was! Thanks for the rewind, Kevin...
This was one cool disc and hot all around campus.
I always thought “Here Comes Your Man” was an ironic cover of some classic 50’s/60’s pop song.
Slightly off topic, “Shiny Happy People” is one of the few REM tracks that I still listen to, but only because Kate Pierson (B-52’s) kills it on backing vocals.
Got to see them tour Doolittle in NZ and still powerful and potent. I think this was 7 years ago. Also has one of the greatest love songs earworm...LA LA love you...
Literally listening to this as I read. Absolutely bonkers, in the best possible sense of that word. This is like hearing a sampler CD from Absolutely Bonkers Records.
I think Here Comes Your Man is perfect on the album precisely because it is not bonkers, in and of itself, which just adds to the overall bonkers-ness of the album. How is that even the same band ? Its like if I Wanna Hold Your Hand was inserted into the middle of Magical Mystery Tour.
Not sure how anyone writes a plain and straightforward review of an album that is anything but, but kudos for pulling off that trick Kevin :)
The fascinating thing, at least for me at the time and still, is how immediate and profound their influence was on bands that got much bigger a year or two later—in particular, is there "Nevermind" or the Blue Album we know and love without "Doolittle"? I don't think so.
I love Doolittle, and it was the last rock record I bought before spending five years listening to nothing but jazz (which meant that I missed grunge until way too late). But I've come to realise in recent years that perhaps the most interesting thing about that record is the tracklist. Those exact same songs in a different order would not be anywhere near as strong a record as this one is. It's one of the best examples ever of "these songs in THIS order make the album work". Something that often gets overlooked when talking about how good and, indeed, how smart Doolittle is.
Monkey Gone to Heaven, Wave of Mutilation, and Here Comes Your Man for me!
The pain of not wanting to give a tape back was real back in those days. I feel you. I almost lost a friend over a copy of Sgt. Peppers that I not only didn't return, but committed the cardinal sin of pretending I hadn't borrowed it in the first place. I might have gotten away with it, too, if he hadn't come over and seen the case on my tape deck. I was a criminal, but not a good one.
I'm also struck that Doolittle is 35, and Frank Black hasn't spoken 35 words of banter combined at all his shows since then. Can't call that dude chatty.
"but in 1989, they didn't exist yet, And Pixies don't really sound like anyone else, either."
Except The Gun Club (at least their first album, Fire of Love).
Play "Ghost on the Highway" or "Sex Beat" for any Pixies fan, sit back and watch the confusion... and then tell them it came out in 1981, and was from an LA band.