In the alternative rock family tree, a big fat line runs from the Pixies directly to the chart-smashing Noise Pop/Grunge that Nirvana broke with in 1991. Surfer Rosa, the Pixies' 1988 full length debut of skronked-out, Surf-damaged Punk-Pop, was a revelation to just about everyone who heard it. At first listen the remedial chord progressions, utterly nonsensical lyrics, and bizarre delivery sounded like the flailings of inept college rockers with a psychotropic casualty for a lead singer; but once the hooks were in, there was no escape. The Pixies reminded everyone how to write a perfect, repetitive song that you knew by heart two seconds in. With wonder-twin powers Black vinyl records and CDs" class=tt >Frank Black and Kim Deal writing paeans to sexually charged dementia, an idiosyncratic guitar sound, and what sounded like the Jolly Green Giant playing drums, the Pixies took the alterna-rock world by storm, releasing four near-perfect records before self-destructing under the weight of their own talent. Find Pixies vinyl records and Pixies cds on 4AD Records.
