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- CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE
WEEK
- Pixies "Trompe Le Monde" 1991 (USA)
Released literally the day before Nirvana's seminal Nevermind
(exactly 23 years ago last week), this was to be the final Pixies album
by the original line-up. And thus though Pixies were a key influence on
the Indie Grunge Alternapalooza of the early 1990's (Nirvana basically
wanted to be them), the band was not active during the entire
"corporate indie" period (the most recent time in our history when long
haired rock bands were massively popular). Instead lead singer and
main songwriter Black Francis launched an underwhelming solo career as
Frank Black (his real name is Charles Thompson), while hipchick bassist
and underutilized second vocalist Kim Deal turned her side project The Breeders
into one of the more successful grunge bands of the decade, and the
other two guys were not heard from much. The quartet reunited in the
early 21st century for some tours, though by the year
twenty-teensomething Deal had quit (to focus on Breeders again!) and in
2014 the other three dudes recorded the first new Pixies album in ages (Indie Cindy)
and are on tour now and playing Madison October 12 at the Orpheum
theater. Anyway back in late 1991 or early 1992 I saw Pixies on tour in
support of this week's CAOTW, which has always been my favorite Pixies
record (though their first EP and LP are also pretty great). A highly
polished, yet still rockin', slightly proggy, feisty-angsty album
featuring funny songs about outter space and college hipsters, two
decades on this album seems like one of the last true gems of the
"classic rock era". (Or as Steely Dan used ta say, remember this one
from college?) |
