Cookie I Think You're Tame!
A quick look at Pixies' groundbreaking Doolittle album as it turns 35
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Good Morning!
Today we’re taking a quick look at Pixies’ Doolittle as it turns 35.
In the days before streaming online music, few sins were worse than not returning music someone had lent you. Doing so was a violation of trust that person had placed in you, and–in the absence of digital accessibility–meant they just went without. Having had this done to me previously, I should've known better, but when I borrowed a copy of a copy of Pixies Surfer Rosa, I couldn't bring myself to return it promptly. In reality, it was only a few days–and I had good reason (I'd run out of blank tapes and had to ride my bike to Tower for more), but it must've seemed like an eternity if you're reading this; sorry, Eric.
On a subsequent run to Tower, I found out the band had a new record out. Determined not to make the same mistake, I set down what I'd gone in for and walked out with a cassette of Doolittle.
The record is an exercise in contradictions. Everyone seems to know it, but few can rattle off more than two or three song titles. Everyone seems to own a copy, but it also took a long time to rack up sales. Was it pop? Alternative? And what was going on in Black Francis' mind?
(opening lyrics from ‘Debaser’)
Got me a movie
I want you to know
Slicing up eyeballs
I want you to know
Girly so groovy
I want you to know
Don't know about you
But I am un chien Andalusia (x4)
Show of hands: How many knew these were the actual words (I didn't)?
How many read that in Francis' voice (I most certainly did)?
While "chien" and "Andulusia" might be the oddest call-and-response of our era, they work, and they're an earworm. 'Debaser' sets what would be a typical pattern on the record: It opens with a bass line from Deal and a riff from Santiago (or vice versa), explodes into sound when Lovering joins the fray, and then arrives with whatever version of vocals Francis is in the mood for.
At this point, the record's status as an early alternative benchmark is not in question. I don't know if it's reached the rarified air of "classic"--and if it has, what's that say about how old I am?-- but if you look up "early alternative rock," don't be surprised if it's just a picture of this record.
With time, its influence would spread far and wide–there are a lot of bands that "sound like Pixies,"-- but in 1989, they didn't exist yet, And Pixies don't really sound like anyone else, either.
In fact, on this record, they didn't even sound like themselves. Doolittle's sound is much more refined and a level up from their previous record, Surfer Rosa1
Kim Deal keeps the groove moving with basslines that are upfront in the mix, and they blend nicely with drummer David Lovering's work, but they work really well with Francis' guitar playing. On top of it all is guitarist Joey Santiago's own guitar work. I'm not sure "intuitive" is the best descriptor here, but his superpower on this record is knowing when to go full throttle & when to hold back and the perfect time/place to drop on a bendy riff or lick.
On Paper, those elements shouldn't work together, but they all come together in just the right ways.
And they are all in orbit around the man known to the Massachusetts DMV as Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, later known as Frank Black but introduced to us as Black Francis. Francis couldn't quite decide on a vocal style, so he just went with all of them. From a whisper to a scream (heh), he covers a lot of ground; sometimes, it's earnest, sometimes ferocious. And sometimes in Spanish.
Calling him a singer seems like a misnomer, if not reductive. Calling him a writer seems too simplistic. Doolittle is a 38-minute funhouse ride through his mind. What other record manages to work in a quasi-film review (Debaser), pollution (Monkey Gone To Heaven), and gang culture (No. 13 Baby)?
'Tame' is where we see Francis rip into a roar. It also represents the quiet/loud dichotomy that the band does so well. 'Here Comes Your Man' is an attempt at a straight-up pop song and is on here because producer Gil Norton liked it. It's a good song, but its sheen feels out of place here, not unlike REM's 'Shiny Happy People' on 'Out of Time' a few years later.
This might've been built to be chart-ready, but it didn't see REM's same breakout success, settling for heavy rotation on shows like 120 Minutes instead. Not the worst place to be, but still… ‘No. 13 Baby’ is a field trip to the world of Latino gang culture and has one of my favorite outros of the era.
The record ends with the closing track ‘Gouge Away,’ using the same quiet/loud formula that works so well throughout the record. It's a song about the biblical story of Samson, but of course, it is. This is the Pixies, after all.
All of that to say that Doolittle is an odd record from an odd band. Calling them eclectic would be as reductive as merely calling Francis a singer. But everything works here, and 35 years on, it feels as inspiring and exciting today as it did when I first heard it. Despite its twists and turns, it's all gas & no brakes and a record that still manages to reveal new little bits to me every time I play it. It’s both a hot mess and perfectly put together. It's light and hard-hitting and came along at just the right time.
If there's a downside to the album, it's that it overshadows both Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde—both solid records in their own right.
I’ll be riding my bike to see the band at the end of June. And while there are a handful of tracks off both records I hope to hear, there are several from Doolittle I’m looking forward to.
Classic? Maybe. Influential & iconic? No doubt. Several copies later, it remains one of my favorites.
Listen:
Pixies | Doolittle, 1989
Click the record to listen on the platform of your choice.
What are your thoughts on this record? Do you have any favorite tracks or memories associated with it? Where does it land on your list of Pixies albums? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
For the sake of this discussion, I’m counting their ‘Come On Pilgrim’ demo as part of the record.
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 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.