Pixies - Doolittle

Doolittle is easily the Pixies’ most accessible album. With its more polished sound and pop influences, it is much better suited to the mainstream audiences. It’s no surprise then that it is also their most successful album. But don’t be fooled into thinking that the Pixies sold out. None of their flair was sacrificed and Doolittle is as dark and weird as any of their other material. It just shows the depth and variety of their talent, especially highlighting Black’s creative genius. You’ll still find him screaming, going off on tangents and recounting utterly obscure stories, but there’s a certain simplicity in most of the songs that make them far more inviting than the norm. In stark contrast to Surfer Rosa, Doolittle feels more like a collection of individual songs than a complete package. But the album doesn’t suffer from this in the slightest because the songs are just so brilliant. While I love all their work, I would definitely rate Doolittle as my favourite. It’s so great that I find it near impossible to pick just two songs (honourable mentions go to Hey, Gouge Away and Monkey Gone To Heaven). If you’re new to the Pixies, this is the ideal place to start.

Debaser – This song would have to be up there in amongst my all time favourite Pixies songs. It’s just so well-rounded and incorporates so many of their varying styles that it’s the perfect song with which to introduce someone to this fantastic band.

Here Comes Your Man – This song is so seductively simple that it could have been written by a 15 year-old. Well as matter of fact, it was. Black pulled it out of his pre-Pixies archive and it turned out to be one of their most popular songs. Being so catchy, this is hardly surprising.