Review Summary: The Pixies second full-length takes Surfer Rosa's sound, popifies it, and makes another fresh, funny, and amazing album.
Doolittle is the Pixies second album, and it is as interesting, if not more so, than their debut. Its melodies are clearer, but the craziness is still there. This is one of my favorite albums of all time because it is so simple, yet so unique.
One) Debaser: The first track of the album starts with Kim Deal's insanely catchy bass playing and then the noisy yet catchy guitar line comes in with drums and Francis Black sings in an odd, atonal way that seems to me a huge influence on Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse). This song is incredibly catchy and the guitars are amazing. - 5/5
Two) Tame: Probably the most furious song on the album, Tame is also one of the most dynamic songs I have ever heard, with Francis whispering the verses and screaming his head off in the chorus, which just repeats "TAME" over again. At the end, Kim's beautiful backing vocals come in and the songs oddity hits you. - 4.5/5
Three) Wave of Mutilation: Perhaps one of the catchiest songs on the album, this is the first Pixies songs I ever heard, and I love playing this on my guitar or singing along as I listen to it. This song is just pure fun, with very abstract lyrics and an incredibly catchy chorus. Francis' voice remains really calm throughout. - 5/5
Four) I Bleed: This is probably my favorite song on this album and I would describe it as a progressive noise pop song. The mood and key change from start to finish and the song is split by a memorable bridge. Very catchy, sorta noisy, great. - 5/5 (I wish I could give it more)
Five) Here Comes Your Man: This song is really different for the Pixies. It is very poppy and sort of 60s surf-rock sounding. This song is very heavy in melody and low in noise, so hardcore Pixies fans will probably not like it. I like it, but I definitely don't love it. Still a great song when compared to most other alt rock bands. - 4/5
Six) Dead: This is one of the weirder songs on the album and I would compare its sound a lot to "Something Against You" on
Surfer Rosa. The drums are very prevelant on this song even though there is very limited cymbal use. The guitar is very noisy, or rather just very dissonant, except in the chorus. Francis' vocals are distorted and very crazy. Good, but one of the less memorable songs on the album. - 4.5/5
Seven) Monkey Gone To Heaven: A strait-up pop song, this song is still a great song. It features a string section, something unusual for a punk band, and something that Nirvana would emulate on "Dumb". The guitar gets a little noisy at a musical bridge about halfway through, but calms down for a very memorable and dynamic verse. This song holds some of the albums best lyrics that are seemingly religious. - 5/5
Eight) Mr. Grieves: This song has a little bit of an Italian feel, especially in the intro. The song really picks up at around 0:40. The tempo changes a lot in this song and it has a really unique sound. This is one of my favorite songs ever. - 5/5
Nine) Crackity Jones: Very punky, very fast, very ok. I love the verses of this song, but the chorus is very annoying because Francis just repeats "Crackity Jones" and makes a barking sound. Very weird and very Pixies. - 4/5
Ten) La La Love You: This song is sung by David Lovering, the band's drummer. It's funny to listen to once, but it is really repetitive and boring. This is my least favorite song on this album and is in general not a good song. - 2/5
Eleven) No. 13 Baby: Francis adopts a bit of a Spanish accent on the chorus of this song. However, this song is very normal and unmemorable. It has a few good guitar lines in it and is not a bad song, but it is also not a great song. It's very ok. - 3/5
Twelve) There Goes My Gun: The opening guitar line sticks in my head for a whole day after hearing this song. It's kinda funny and very unique and includes some tremolo use. - 4.5/5
Thirteen) Hey: This song tries to be a classic, and sort of achieves that feel, but it is not a great song. Doesn't sound very Pixies-ish except for the chorus where Francis remains rather calm, and Kim repeats what Francis says in a very monotone voice. - 3.5/5
Fourteen) Silver: This is a very different song, and Kim plays slide guitar and Lovering plays bass and kicks slowly on the bass drum. This is a very melencholy song, even though Francis sings in a very high falsetto voice that goes higher than Kim's vocals. Very slow and sort of country-ish (real country, not modern country pop,), sorta folk-ish, but still includes some noisy guitar. - 5/5
Fifteen) Gouge Away: This song sounds very generic to me, sort of like a garage band playing a mainstream rock song. Does include a few neat, if simple, guitar lines though. The last minute of the song really saves it.- 4/5
Overall, Doolittle is a classic Pixies album. It is about par with Surfer Rosa, even though it is a little poppier. But that's what is great about this album. It is very noisy and Pixies-ish without being afraid to be poppy and catchy. The simplicity of the musicianship is part of what makes this album great because you can play all of the songs that you hear on it. So, while the Pixies are definitely not the greatest guitar/bass/drum virtuoso's in the world, that's ok. They didn't want to be. They just wanted to be unique, which is what Doolittle shows off perfectly. This album is more than a sum of its parts, and therefore earns a 5/5.
This Message Edited On 01.21.09
