Surfer Rosa and Doolittle by Pixies

by Lana FIeischli

I have continued listening to a band every week. Usually it’s just one album, but this time, while getting advice on which Pixies album to listen to, it could not be decided if I should listen to Surfer Rosa or Doolittle. So I listened to both! 

I really enjoyed both albums. I listened to Surfer Rosa for the first time while doing math homework, because music usually helps me focus. It made me laugh a little when I heard “Amazed” because of the beginning where there’s a conversation. I thought it was so funny when she says, “It was like, so hush-hush.” The album is filled with lively guitar and a great harmony of male and female voices. Honestly, it’s also pretty funny because it’s kind of random. I’ve listened to “Tony’s Theme” since I was maybe ten, and I love that song because it’s a theme song for a made up superhero, which is really creative, but it’s also just a really great song. 

Doolittle is a little less goofy than Surfer Rosa, and has a little more of a classic rock feel, with songs like “Here Comes Your Man”, or “Tame”, while still keeping with their Pixies charm that really sets them apart. I really like the song “Monkey Gone to Heaven” because I was listening to Doolittle while I was driving a few weeks ago, and that song really caught my attention, then I looked at the name, and it was so out of the ordinary that it made me like it that much more. 

I wanted to get the most out of these albums that I could, so I spoke with Marc Geiger, the Pixies’ agent who has been with them since basically the beginning. I asked him what he thought the significance of the albums being made so closely together (Surfer Rosa released in 1988, and Doolittle released in 1989). He said that Frank Black is always writing, so it makes sense that he would just have a lot of songs ready. According to Geiger, they would spend two days in the studio, and have an album. He said that for the Pixies, it makes sense that the albums were made so close together because everything they did was released closer together. After Doolittle (1989), Bossanova came out the next year, and that trend continued for them.  

I also asked why the albums were so different, and where he thought the difference came from. He said that the difference came from the producers. Surfer Rosa was produced by Gary Smith who met the Pixies after seeing them open for Throwing Muses, another band that he produced. Doolittle was produced by Gil Norton, who is also known for producing some of Echo And The Bunnymen. Marc Geiger explained that that was the biggest difference. 

I really enjoyed listening to the Pixies, and I’m so grateful that I got to talk to Marc Geiger to get a better picture. The Pixies are incredibly fascinating from their music to how quickly they create it. It’s amazing to me that they can make music that fast, and that well.