I didn't realize that there was a review of this until I was over halfway through my review. I wanted to do it, so I did it anyway. Here goes...
Pixies – Trompe Le Monde
Released 1991 on 4AD Records
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Musicians
Black Francis (aka Frank Black) – Vocals, Guitar
Joey Santiago – Lead Guitar
Kim Deal – Bass, Vocals
David Lovering – Drums
So much credence is given to Nirvana, but if you had asked Kurt Cobain, he would probably have nominated Trompe Le Monde as the best album of 1991. This album is largely overshadowed, and unrightfully so. Well, there better Pixies albums. For example, being a Pixies fan and preferring Trompe Le Monde to Surfer Rosa is about as rare as preferring masturbation to sex. As for the other albums, there is somewhat less of a consensus as to which ones might or might not be better. Being the Pixies’ last album (or should I say most recent?), however, Trompe Le Monde is often overlooked and underhyped. It is almost antithetical to some of their earlier material. Instead of making allusions to ancient times, the band reaches for the future. If you have a way of checking out some of the album art, you will see rocket ships, stars, and imagery of space. Similarly, the music is rather futuristic. In some parts, it’s layered with amazing sounds played at a frantic pace. Anyway, there is no guarantee you’ll like this if you’re a Pixies fan, and no guarantee that you won’t like it if you dislike their other material. This is a unique work both within their catalogue and within music in general. It’s worth checking out.
Trompe Le Monde
The album opens with a song that seems to be extremely eighties. How ironic that a band that would influence so many in the 90s seems to revert to a sound from a time before. The song features some cool guitar, and seemingly frantic drumming in some parts. Black Francis’ singing is strange, and difficult to hear. 3.5/5
Planet of Sound
A wailing guitar ushers in the song, and some bells or something ring in the background. The simple drumbeat sets a backbone that the thumping bass and muted guitar expand upon to create a song that simply rocks, hard. While Bossanova and Doolittle were rather tame (ha, ha), this has quite a bit of crunch to it. It’s very good overall, and very energetic. 4.5/5
Alec Eiffel
The album continues at the frantic pace that was set with “Planet of Sound.” The lyrics contain some cute word play and the dual descending guitar riffs are cool. There’s even synth too towards the end. It sort of sets the mood for the album. It’s ambiguously weird in a cool, quirky sort of way. However, instead of being retrospective like previous songs (a la “Nimrod’s Son” or “River Euphrates”), it is has a futuristic mood and feel to it. 5/5
The Sad Punk
I’ve been rather disinclined to like this song because of the introduction. It isn’t very listener friendly. Starting out slowly, it ascends to the same frantic pace as the previous two tracks, with squealing guitars, pounding drums, and once again, fat man screaming. It slows down to the lazy Bossanova tempo for a while, and changes moods from angry to sentimental. Perhaps there’s supposed to be a message there? It ends with some strange, spacey guitar notes played with lots of effects. 4.5/5
Head On
This is a Jesus and Mary Chain cover and, in my opinion anyway, it’s better than the original. The guitar leading into the chorus has an excellent tone. Black Francis’ singing is somewhat different from his normal voice, and it’s cool to hear him attempt to expand his repertoire. 4/5
U-Mass
This is a little college rawk song about college life. It possibly has the simplest guitar riff the Pixies have ever written. That’s about all that one can say about it. It’s cool, cute, and succinct. The Pixies have done better, but this is still awesome. 4/5
Palace of the Brine/Letter to Memphis
These are two songs, but I’m reviewing them as one because they run together. This is Frank Black’s album, but Kim Deal makes a brief appearance in the mix singing backup on “Palace of the Brine.” It’s a cutesy little song about sea monkeys (aka brine shrimp), as only the Pixies could do it. The guitar drives the song throughout, and into the next track. “Letter to Memphis” has a similar guitar-driven style, with a really strange break, and it has some cool lines. Unfortunately, the drums and bass play a rather small role in this song. As on the rest of the album, Kim Deal and David Lovering are MIA. Remember songs like “Bone Machine” where they played a central role in the music? The songs are a different kind of cool, and personally I think it’s less effective than their previous stylings. 4/5
Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons
Okay, maybe I spoke too soon. The intro to this song is just bass and drums. It starts off sounding eerily sad and beautiful because it’s in a minor key. The synthesizer is a nice touch, as it contributes to the overall mood. The song builds up well towards what seems to be an inevitable chorus. It’s too bad, because the chorus disappoints the rest of the song. Everything that was so cool becomes enveloped in a shroud of guitar that destroys the mood like a murderer at a wedding might. 3.5/5
Space (I Believe In)
This is the one song on the album that I am not a fan of at all. There is some cool instrumentation at the beginning. Listen and you shall hear cool drumming as well (perhaps on congos as well as a drumkit?). However, none of it is particularly aurally appealing or cohesive. The chorus of “Jeffrey with one f, Jefrey” is rather unappealing, especially because the chord choice is poor, and so is Frank’s singing. Joey’s the only bright spot here really, as he plays a note or two in the break in the chorus that’s actually worth listening to. This whole album is far out, but this song is just over the edge. On the plus side, we get to hear Kim again, very briefly. 1/5
Subbacultcha
Hmmmmm, a song about indie scene kids or something? It’s pretty cool overall. The drumming is actually somewhat interesting during fills, Frank’s guitar has a nice tone during the song, and Joey’s riff adds a nice texture to the song. It could be described as infectious. There is some good indie rawk going on. It’s organized enough to be effectively perceived, yet cluttered enough to provide a somewhat anomalous listening experience. The transitions are really cool too. 5/5
Distance Equals Rate Times Time
This is another pretty rocking song. Unfortunately, it only lasts a minute and twenty-four seconds. The lyrics are really cute and funny (like most Pixies lyrics if you listen to them), and the guitar is cool. I guess it’d get boring if it lasted longer. Oh well. 4/5
Lovely Day
This is a cool song at a frantic pace, but there’s nothing really remarkable about it. There’s a lot of stuff going on, and fast, so nothing really jumps out and strikes the listener as being remarkable. It’s pleasant, perhaps enjoyable, but not great. 3/5
Motorway to Roswell
Wow. This is a rather strange and sentimental song. It’s dominated by acoustic guitar at first, and then the quirky and strange electric guitars kick in. Joey meanders through some interesting notes before the song enters its ultimate chorus, which lasts over a minute. After the guitar dies, there’s a keyboard outro. In the first verse, Frank sings “How could something so great end up so shitty?” Is he talking about the band? It seems like it could be a quirky metaphor of sorts. It’s a real epic, and a rather bizarre one. 5/5
The Navajo Know
This is a cool little track to close out the album. It’s short, sweet, and doesn’t allow the listener to dwell too much on Motorway to Roswell. As far as Pixies songs go, it certainly isn’t great. As with the rest of the album, there is a lot going on, and the tempo is rather brisk. There’s some tape sound or something, and the song fades out. 3/5
Overall: 85% B (4/5)
As good of an album as this is, it could easily have been much better. It has some songs that are infectiously catchy and well developed. However, the same could be said about any Pixies album. While some of the stuff is simply brilliant, there are a few problems. First, some songs are simply too hectic to attain their full potential. Imagine that instead of having two candidates give speeches at separate times in a political convention, they had them speak simultaneously. Sure they might say great things, but can you fully appreciate either one? The best songs are the ones that allow for instrumental and vocal cohesion. Secondly, Kim Deal is almost completely absent. I could listen to Frank Black for ages, but seeing as it is the Pixies and not The Catholics, I would prefer a more balanced perspective. We naturally get more Black Francis anyway, and this is not a bad thing. However, it seems as though he is stifling her. He monopolizes the vocals, and the only instrument that is really allowed to shine is Joey Santiago’s guitar. This brings me to point three. The album is too guitar-oriented for my liking. I’m a guitarist, so this is possibly a fair assessment. Previous Pixies albums achieved a much better balance, allowing for all creative voices to be heard. There was tension within the group around this time, and that makes me wonder about things. Nevertheless, it’s an awesome album, very unique, and very enjoyable. It’s a different type of Pixies.
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