The Pixies - Surfer Rosa album analysis

THE PIXIES - SURFER ROSA

American alternative rock band ‘The Pixies’ released their first full length album 'Surfer Rosa' in March 1988 on the British independent label ‘4AD’.

Having made their debut EP ‘Come on Pilgrim’ from their demo tapes, Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of 4AD records, suggested that they return to the studio to record a full length album. The album was produced and engineered by Steve Albini at Q Division studio in Boston.

MUSICAL ELEMENTS

The albums quirky and unusual themes are displayed in a variety of styles. Faster guitar driven songs such as ‘Brick is Red’ are featured alongside more melodic songs such as ‘Where is my mind?' - contrasting heavier and softer material became a typical feature of the Pixies music.

The album consists of vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar and drums. The chords are mostly either basic power chords, octaves or minor/major triads.

Irregular arrangements are shown on most songs on this album, although it still 'works' and it is often not obvious that non-standard arrangment techniques are used. Throughout the album the instrumentation is built up, cut out and arranged in non-standard ways, such as instruments dropping in and out halfway through phrases and bars.

Whilst the album does stay in 4/4 time, strange rhythms are used in the vocal lines, bass lines and guitar riffs. The drums often maintain an overall sence of rhythm, usually with a typical rock beat accentuating beats 1 and 3 with the kick drum and snare. The abstract rhythms are well placed and add to The Pixies unique style whilst remaining a pop/guitar driven band.
The first track on the album 'Bone Machine' is a perfect example of the intertwining melodies and rhythms working well with strange lyrics and effects. The multiple rhythms mean that the feel of the songs keeps changing which keeps it interesting to listen to.

Frontman Black Francis wrote all of the material on the album with the exception of ‘Gigantic’, which was co-written by bassist/backing vocalist Kim Deal. It was the only track on the album which featured Kim Deal on lead vocals.

LYRICAL CONTENT

The album features strange subjects such as mutilation (‘Broken Face’), voyeurism (‘Gigantic’) and even reference to super heroes (‘Tony’s Theme’). Often the songs feature surrealist lyrics.

In most songs the lyrics do not rhyme, and have both strange rhythms and strange lyrics.

'Where is my mind?’ was inspired by Francis’ scuba-diving trip in the Caribbean. He later commented that he had “this very small fish trying to chase me. I don't know why, I don't know too much about fish behaviour”

The song ‘Cactus’ is narrated by a prison inmate who requests his girlfriend to smear blood on her dress and send it to him.

The album also features Spanish lyrics written by Black Francis, having spent time in Puerto Rico ('Oh my Golly', 'Vamos').

PRODUCTION METHODS

The album was recorded cross 10 consecutive working days with producer Steve Albini, who later commented that the album could have been finished in a week, but the experimentation and strange production methods meant it took slightly longer.

On the tracks 'Where is my mind?' and 'Gigantic' Kim Deal's vocals were recorded in the bathroom of the studio, in order to achieve more realistic reverberation. On the song 'Something Against You' Albini filtered lead vocalist Black Francis' voice through a guitar amp to achieve a distorted, aggressive sound.

Steve Albini recorded conversations between band members in the studio, without them being aware. He then used these recordings in the songs 'I'm Amazed' and 'Vamos'. Here is an example from the song 'Im Amazed', featuring a conversation about teacher who was "into field hockey players" and was discreetly fired. Having samples like this add to the albums personality and individuality.



The album features extensive use of overdubbing and editing as heard at the start of this track, 'Broken Face'

ARTWORK

The album artwork features a photo of a topless flamenco dancer, against a wall which features a crucifix and a ripped poster.

The set was built to create the atmostphere Black Francis wanted. He has said that he intended to show body lines and nudity in a tasteful way.

Although the album was initially going to be called 'Gigantic' after the single, the name was changed to 'Surfer Rosa' due to fear of misinterpretation.

RELEASE

The album failed to chart in both the UK and USA mainstream charts, although it stayed in the UK Indie Chart for 60 weeks, peaking at number 2.
The only single from the album was ‘Gigantic’. Both the track and its B-side ‘River Euphrates’ were re-recorded at Blackwing Studios in London. The remixed single reached 93 on the UK Singles Chart, and did not sell very well.

In 1992 the album was re-issued by Elektra Records and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2005, 17 years after its original release.

CONCLUSION

The strange abstract style of popular music paved the way for innovation in alternative music throughout the 1990s and 2000s, combining melodic aspects with innovative and sometimes aggressive music. Kurt Cobain claims that Surfer Rosa was a strong influence on him when writing the Nirvana's most famous album 'Nevermind', and in 1993 he hired Steve Albini, the producer of Surfer Rosa to produce his album 'In Utero'.