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Surfer Rosa
Artist : Pixies
List Price : $11.98 USD
ProductGroup: Music
Release Date : 1992-01-28
Studio : Elektra / Wea
Label : Elektra / Wea
Avg. Customer Rating :  (172 reviews)
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Reviews
Customer Reviews for Surfer Rosa
Deserves Respect But Not Much of a Listen
Rating:
Yes, this review is going to be extremely unpopular with indie rock listening douchebags (and losers in general), but those people might as well kill themselves if they care so much. Alright, don't take the second choice, but seriously, go _______ yourself. While The Pixies deserve to be respected no matter what, I still find their debut still pretty lukewarm. Surfer Rosa is a listenable album for the most part, but for every inspired track of madness and fearlessness, you have to suffer through akward dumbed down Sonic Youth tunes with tuneless pop elements (what the hell are people talking about with a tasty latin influence? They sing in spanish and do a cute little latin rhythm on Vamos, that's it).
That's a big problem with this album. They don't use enough abrasivness to be powerful, and don't use enough melody in their abrasivness to be memorable. The backup instruments occasionaly dont' necessarily contribute anything, as David Loverings's drumming can be very dull. While Doolittle was not as abrasive as Surfer Rosa, it contained a good feeling of well developed songs instead of merely just..well, "songs". There's nothing wrong with simple songs, but there songs aren't memorable, especially with Frank Black's occasional safe and boring vocal styles (sometimes he's loony yes, but sometimes he might as well shock me by jumping out a closet).
The Steve Albini production is a rose-has-it's-thorn and a thorn-has-it's rose at the same time. Yes, there is nothing wrong with lo-fi production, but the production on here bites. Steve Albini can be an excellent producer (listen to the last two Mclusky albums for proof), but some of the tendency to mix melodic tendencies lower in the mix (it seems) is annoying, as the melodies on it don't exactly pop out correctly. THe production works out in favor on some of these songs, but some of they don't either. Furthermore, his tendency to mix vocals so they sound like Frank Black's screeching outside the door of the recording studio. You might as well record it live, idiot Steve. I don't really want that when your trying to do a cheerleader chorus on Tony's Theme, Frank.
That being said, let's talk about the strengths of some of these songs. Despite the half @$$ed, this album packs some insanely good tracks. Bone Machine is an example of one. Tony's Theme has great instrumentation, but the production ruins the verses. Something Against You is superb, and Albini's vocal production works wonders here. It keeps up the pace well with Broken Face, an awesome sing-along song, with lyrics about incest! Of course, Where is My Mind is a classic Pixies song, a song about losing your mind, while feeling meaningful at the same ________ time. I love the dirge of cactus (which the production really does wonder, sounds like something cmoing out of a jail cell, vocals and all), and the lyrics are so good they will be implanted in your brain for a long time. Oh My Golly is extremely fun and the actual realy latin feel actually makes the song better! Brick is Red is a soothing closer.
The rest of the album is forgettable, which hurts the score of the album by a longshot. To make matters worse, a lot of the songs have good verses/choruses, but are ruined by something else that probably takes about two minutes of music off the song (example: The totally stupid chorus of Gigantic. It's a shame, and the lack of song craft at times sounds like a crappy garage band. Yeah, they were definitely more than a garage band, you can hear the sound coming through, but it still wasn't entirely together.
Plenty of the strong songs really help the score because they are so damn good, but it has too many problems with the overrall factors (I ain't giving you a list, that would take a long time my friend). I recommend you to listen to it, yes, but beware the hype.
6.5/10
Customer Reviews for Surfer Rosa Cd
Pixies best album
Rating:
Following their remarkable debut EP "Come On Pilgrim," Pixies teamed with the great Steve Albini for their debut LP, "Surfer Rosa," which itself became a touchstone of independent, "alternative" music, cited by Kurt Cobain as one of his favorite albums and a significant influence on Nirvana's music.
From the bombastic (and perfectly tuned, mic'ed, and recorded) drum intro of "Bone Machine," to the strange beauty of Gigantic, and the punk intensity of "Something Against You," to the snaking bass line and lyrical genius of "Cactus," this album is as huge in its span as it is in its sound.
Never again would the Pixies so much as attempt to match the grit and grime of this album, and that's probably for the best. But for all the nice production values of Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde, they never sounded better, and they surely never had a better album cover.
Editorial Reviews for Surfer Rosa Audio Cd
Amazon.com essential recording
Before the Breeders and Frank Black, there was this Boston quartet, playing hardcore's rush and terseness against the acoustic grit and the minor-key flourish of Latin pop. Their first full-length album is their starkest, harsh and trebly, with the drums right in your face, and songs edited to eliminate any note that's not absolutely necessary. Singer Black Francis yelping away about destroyed bodies and the river Euphrates, alternately acting cryptic and crazed. Kim Deal, then calling herself "Mrs. John Murphy," contributes the highlight, "Gigantic," a creepy anthem about childhood voyeurism. The playing is snarly and tricky but unfailingly tuneful, and the hooks come out of nowhere, hiding behind the noise, and bite down hard. --Douglas Wolk
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