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Rating:
I heard this album for the first time last night, and the first thing that came to mind (after a liberating "Finally some cool rock" repeated multiple times in my head) was I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO REVIEW IT!!!
The first reason that pushed me so ardently to jot down a few lines about the Pixies is that until 24 hours ago I knew nothing about them (and still don't know anything): so, what better way to be impartial?
The second reason, much more important, is that the sound of this band from the 80s is a practically perfect blend of rock, punk, sound, vocal, and rhythmic experimentation, whose parts come together wonderfully.
I've finally figured out who the Libertines are inspired by for many things; on this album, there are songs (like "Something Against You") that Doherty and Barat will know by heart.
So, to not make a fool of myself, I’ve done a little bit of research: Surfer Rosa is their first full-length album, following their very first release (the EP "Come On Pilgrim" which came out in '87) and the production is by Steve Albini(!).
The at least implicitly strange "lyrics" are accompanied by sharp riffs and a piercing electric guitar noise that I believe Kurt Cobain used to listen to before falling asleep at night.
The more I listen to this album, the more I believe that the blonde leader of Nirvana loved the Boston band in an almost obsessive way.
"Where Is My Mind" has within it, in the interplay between bass and drums, the seeds of grunge ready to explode a few years later, and then there's the soundtrack of the final scene of Fincher's epic Fight Club!
More melodic and easily accessible hooks at the first listen aren't disdained, like some duets between the singer and the female voice, but the underlying dirty rock, with its sounds sometimes undeniably borrowed from the Sex Pistols, remains and, apparently, today is more popular than ever (see the new wave of damned kids sharing the stage).
"Oh My Golly" has a frenetic rhythm, it's very short and incendiary, but it seemed like I had heard it before: yes, indeed, except it was called "Never Done Nothing Like That Before" released last year by Supergrass (it's way too similar!).
Obvious improvisations on the electric guitar aren't lacking ("Vamos"), which nevertheless, in the context, further increase the artistic charge of the work, making it a bit less solid and precise on one hand but also damn engaging.
So awesome!
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Bone Machine (03:02)
This is a song for Carol
You're into Japanese fast food
And I drop you off with your japanese lover
And you're going to the beach all day
You're so pretty when you're unfaithful to me
You're so pretty when you're unfaithful to me
Oh you're looking like you got some sun
Your blistered lips have got a kiss
The days are lit like everyone
Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh
Your bone's got a little machine
You're the bone machine
I was talking to preachy preach about kissy kiss
He bought me a soda
He bought me a soda
He bought me a soda and he tried to molest me in the parking lot
Yep, yep, yep, yep!
I make you break
You make me hard
Your Irish skin looks Mexican
Our love is rice and beans and horse's lard
Your bone's got a little machine
You're the bone machine
Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh
Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh
Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh
Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh
Your bone's got a little machine
03 Something Against You (01:47)
Here it comes..?
I have something against you
You have something against you
I have something against you??
You have something against me
I have something against you
And I'm gonna use it
I am one happy prick
04 Broken Face (01:30)
i got a broken face, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, ooh
i got a broken face
i got a broken face
i got a broken face
i got a broken face
there was this boy who had two children
with his sisters, who were his daughters
who were his favourite lovers
i got no lips, i got no tongue
where there were eyes there's only space
i got no lips, i got no tongue
i got a broken face
i got a broken face
there was this man who smashed his prick to little pieces
in little pieces
and then they drilled holes
and then they put 'em back in there
i got no lips, i got no tongue
where there were eyes there's only space
i got no lips, i got no tongue
i got a broken face
i got a broken face
the little thing who does my laundry speaks no english
but if you saw her you'd say, "isn't she lovely?"
i got no lips, i got no tongue
where there were eyes there's only space
i got no lips, i got no tongue
05 Gigantic (03:54)
and this I know
his teeth as white as snow
what a gas it was to see him
walk her every day
into a shady place
with her lips she said
she said
hey paul, hey paul, hey paul, let's have a ball [3x]
gigantic, gigantic, gigantic
a big big love
gigantic, gigantic, gigantic
a big big love
lovely legs there are
what a big black mask
what a hunk of love
walk her every day into a shady place
he's like the dark, but I'd want him
hey paul, hey paul, hey paul, let's have a ball [3x]
gigantic, gigantic, gigantic
a big big love
gigantic, gigantic, gigantic
a big big love
gigantic, gigantic, gigantic
a big big love
gigantic, gigantic, gigantic
a big big love
06 River Euphrates (02:33)
Ride, ride, ride...
Stuck here out of gas
Out here on the Gaza Strip
From driving in too fast
Let's ride the tire down river Euphrates
Ride, ride, ride...
Dead sea make it float
One sip from the salty wine
Dead sea make you choke
Let's ride the tire down river Euphrates
07 Where Is My Mind? (03:53)
(Ooooh)
Stop!
With your feet on the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, (yeah!) yeah!
Your head will collapse if there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself:
Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?
Way out in the water
See it swimming?
I was swimming in the Caribbean
Animals were hiding behind the rocks
Except for little fish
But they told me east was west, trying to talk to me coy koi
Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?
Way out in the water
See it swimming?
With your feet on the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah!
Your head will collapse if there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself:
Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?
Way out in the water
See it swimming?
(With your feet on the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah!)
(Ooooh)
08 Cactus (02:16)
sitting here wishing on a cement floor
just wishing that i had just something you wore
i put it on when i go lonely
will you take off your dress and send it to me?
i miss your kissin' and i miss your head
and a letter in your writing doesn't mean you're not dead
run outside in the desert heat
make your dress all wet and send it to me
i miss your soup and i miss your bread
and a letter in your writing doesn't mean you're not dead
so spill your breakfast and drip your wine
just wear that dress when you dine
P-I-X-I-E-S
sitting here wishing on a cement floor
just wishing that i had just something you wore
bloody your hands on a cactus tree
wipe it on your dress and send it to me
sitting here wishing on a cement floor
just wishing that i had just something you wore
12 Vamos (04:18)
Estaba pensando sobreviviendo con mi sister en New Jersey
Ella me dijo que es una vida buena allá,
Bien rica bien chevere. Y voy! Puñeta!
We'll keep well-bred
We'll stay well-fed
We'll have all sons
They will be all well-hung
They'll come and play
Their friends will say
Your daddy's rich
Your mamma's a pretty thing
That maid Maria, she's real OK
Vamos a jugar por la playa (x5)
I keep getting friends
Looking like lesbians
If we get bored
We'll move to California
They'll come and play
Their friends will say
Your daddy's rich
Your mamma's a pretty thing
That maid Maria, she's real OK
Vamos a jugar por la playa (x5)
14 Brick Is Red (02:00)
a fish is fast
and jimmy's cast
hang me
a white moon's hot
the other side's not
hang me
it's not time for me to go
it's not time for me to go
my eyes have turned
just the colour of diamonds
just the colour
the frayed colour of ice
my eyes have turned
just the colour of diamonds
just the colour
the frayed colour of ice
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