Surfer Rosa
Pixies

Day 2 - Surfer Rosa (1988) So, the Pixies huh? I've heard that they're famous in the alt-rock scene; it wouldn't hurt to finally give them a listen although the reviews are controversial. ── ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ ── I had initially done a song-to-song review but the review didn't save, so instead I'll be giving a brief overview: Alright, so many of the reviews noted that "Surfer Rosa" is straight up noise - loud, atrocious, directionless noise. And they're CORRECT. "Surfer Rosa" is not alt-rock, it's grunge: and a horrible slice of it as well. To start off, the songs are disjointed, "screamy," the harmonies are weak, no, straight-up horrible and unlistenable and if you don't believe me, just listen to "Bone Machine." A bit ironic for a band called the "Pixies..." In addition to being disordered, the album is repetitive - every song sounds the same (I didn't even notice when "Bone Machine" transitioned into "Break My Body"). By listening to "Bone Machine," you know you'll either 1) enjoy the entire album, or 2) despise it, given that every song has the same formula and arrangements. Unlike Kurt Cobain, another famous grunge vocalist, Black Francis sounds like nails on chalkboard - his vocals are slurred; the lyrics are lazy and completely unintelligible. Occasionally, if he's feeling up to it, he'll even throw in an ear-throbbing wail... Need I go in depth more? The Pixies are comparative to a group of drunk high scholars whom, after a night of partying, decided to record the album in their garage half-wasted. The only upside to the album was that it was only 33 minutes long. Had it been longer, I might've had to rush to the hospital for a cluster headache. The 5 star reviews have got to be trolling. Please, for the love of God, skip "Surfer Rosa." Unless you're INTO noise-metal... Overall, I'm unsure how "Surfer Rosa" was elected into the Top 1000 Albums. I really hope that their debut doesn't define the Pixies as a whole, that would be shameful.

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