What music comes to mind when you think of the late ‘80s and ‘90s?
If you’re like me, your brain goes to the “grunginess” of Nirvana, Alice and Chains, Soundgarden, along with Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Pearl Jam. These iconic bands have solidified their place in alternative-rock history, and like all art, it’s drawn from inspiration.
Where could these legendary bands have gained theirs?
The Pixies
Before we had the revolutionary “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Cobain or Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” there was a small band soon to revolutionize music in Boston, Massachusetts, named The Pixies.
The band, the myth, the legend
The original members consisted of Black Francis, lead vocalist, Joey Santiago, lead guitarist, Kim Deal, bassist and vocal support, and David Lovering, drummer.
What set the Pixies apart from the synth-pop music popularized during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s was that they had a distinct sound to them, with their music going loud and quiet, fast and slow, and some punk-rock sprinkled in there, and an overlaying undertone of the grunge genre, which was far from being known like it is today.
In 1994, Kurt Cobain stated in an interview with Rolling Stones Magazine, “I have to admit, when I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band — or at least a Pixies cover band.”
Cobain even described Nirvana as a “Pixies rip-off band,” even with Nirvana’s distinct and unforgettable sound.
Don’t worry, Kurt! Whether you feel like a rip-off or not, you are still revered in alternative music history.
Albums
The Pixies’ first album, “Surfer Rosa,” released in 1988, was not popular at all in the United States. It was popular in Europe, where it made more copies. The album credited with popularizing the band was titled “Doolittle,” and was released shortly after their first album just a year later, in 1989. This album was also significantly more popular in Europe.
“Doolittle” has some of the hits that we all love today, such as “Here Comes Your Man.”
What makes them revolutionary?
Even though the Pixies were not an immediate worldwide hit, they helped pioneer a lot of styles and methods of making music that would influence some of the world’s most popular bands, with their “loud-quiet-loud” dynamic, and putting together other genres of alt-rock to help create an entire new genre, which would later be labeled as grunge.
And while they are still underrated, they have gained their place in the alternative music hall of fame.