The Pixies were an interesting mixture of punk and something that sounded a lot like – honestly – surf rock. The Ramones meet the Beach Boys, if you will. Indeed, though they sang about things like incest and mutilation, their tunes were extremely catchy.
The band was primarily front man – and vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter – Black Francis (nee Charles Thompson IV and AKA Francis Black). Quite an interesting fellow:
- Despite the swank IV, Charles Thompson III owned a bar.
- Charles IV was brought up as a born-again Christian.
- He once received a Teenager of the Year award.
Same person, no kidding
As for the album, it’s great! Honestly, it’s like a great hits album – “Here Comes Your Man,” “Monkey Gone to Heaven,” “Debaser,” “Gouge Away,” “Wave of Mutilation,”and ”Hey!” One of my favorite albums of all time.
The cover was a team effort between photographer Simon Larbalestier and graphic artist Vaughan Oliver.
It’s based on the song “Monkey Gone to Heaven.” Here’s what the original looked like:
As you can see, it gives a good feel for Larbalestier’s rather surreal style, as do these (all in the album's insert):
Larbalestier and Oliver combined on a number of albums, including these other faves of mine:
I really don’t like any of the band's other covers.
The Pixies weren't all just Black, by the way. Joey Santiago (first below) was a pretty talented guitarist, and Kim Deal would later form The Breeders.
Can’t believe there’s a parody out there:
No comments:
Post a Comment