(originally posted on Facebook)
It hasn't been that long since I reviewed the first Pixies album on my list, but I pretty much already forgot everything about it. I sorta remember remarking about how Pixies sounded like an 80s band without really feeling like an 80s band. Actually I say I remember that now listening to Surfer Rosa and feeling that way about this album. The music has that soft, tame, washed-out 80s sound. But the songs themselves have a sinister edge closer to the grunge music that would appear in the early 90s, save for the annoying thick accent of the lead singer.
Worse than the shitty 80s production values at work on this album is the band's shitty lyrical ability. A couple songs, such as "River Euphrates" don't really feature vocals as they feature mumbles and random screaming. This album is only 32 minutes but too much of that is filler, which makes it feel interminably long. I guess this album was hugely influencial in setting up the sound of 90s grunge rock, which makes it necessary in the whole albums-I-must-hear-before-I-die thing. But the music is mostly crap. Except for that "Where Is My Mind?" song that everyone who came of age in the mid to late 90s fell in love with at one point. 2 stars.
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