the pixies ...

[famous beagle]

Ok so I've heard so much about them, Kurt Cobain couldn't shut up about them, and it's obvious that there's plenty of Frank Black fans on this board, but I'd never really heard anything from them other than "Here Comes Your Man" on MTV, which I really didn't like.

Still, with all the hoopla, I've been tempted to check out an album, but I wanted some opinions. I went to amazon and listened to just about every 30 second sample from Surfer Rosa and Dolittle. I know that 30 seconds does not a song make, but I definitely didn't like much of what I heard.

Can anyone who's familiar with those albums tell me if those samples are a fairly good representation of what lies within?

P.S. I know that lots of good music has to grow on you sometimes, and that's why I'm asking this. There are some types of music, however, that you hear once and you know you don't ever want to hear again (like most hip-hop or nu-metal for me). But there are some bands, like the Pixies, that I can't decide where they fall on that spectrum.


Are they one of those "you like 'em or don't" bands?

 

[altitude909]

Surfer Rosa or Trompe Le Monde. Both are really good. Surfer Rosa is the older of the two and the progession is really evident (in a very good way). I'm not a huge fan of the last two records but they are all good and worth owning.

Pixies rule.

 

[cliff richard]

im not a huge fan myself but i do own doolittle, and although it has some shakey moments i dont think i could imagine my cd collection without it. especially because it features the song "hey" which is out of this world

 

[travelin travis]

I think a band like the pixies might take a little more listening to soak in than some 30 second clips. For example, the first few rounds of hearing The Flaming Lips was pretty awkward for me. I won't lie, they sounded like pure shit to me! After my brain adjusted a little, they just clicked and then I was like, "awwww! where the fck have I been?". That opened me up to alot of music that I had never heard or really paid any attention to.

I'd say grab Surfer Rosa and spin it every once in awhile. It's not always easy to open up to new things but that does'nt mean it's not worth trying.

This reminds me of hearing a friend of mine play guitar for the first time. He's actually the one that turned me on to the lips. The first time I heard him play I did'nt know wether he sucked or was great. I was pretty damn confused about the whole thing when I left his house that day. I now see him as one of the best musicians that I have ever been acqainted with.

 

[famous beagle]

Thanks for the opinions guys. I guess at $8 used on amazon, there's no harm in picking an album up and spending some time with it.

 

[wilko]

Thanks for the opinions guys. I guess at $8 used on amazon, there's no harm in picking an album up and spending some time with it.

Defintely Trompe Le Monde - I saw them in London before I really knew anything about them and bought Trompe... I put that in my top 20 favourite albums. It must be played loud though!

 

[Creamyapples1]

Trompe Le Monde is probably my favorite out of them all, but I still own, and listen to them all regularly. These days I tend to lean more towards Frank's solo work, but it's all very good.

 

[recombinant]

After my brain adjusted a little, they just clicked and then I was like, "awwww! where the fck have I been?".

I'm glad I'm not the only one this happens to. I was just mentioning to someone the other day that this is a pattern for me.

Most recently, it's been with respect to Radiohead - the first time I heard their music it just didn't do anything for me, but now I love them and had that same reaction "where have I BEEN????"

But the same thing happened to me with Autechre, and now I can't imagine ever not having their material around in my collection (being a synth noodler and all).

Oh well, better late than never I guess. Gotta check out the Pixies - it's been a long time since I've heard them (back in my early 90's college days...).

Thanks, guys!