Pixies Are Cryptic

Snapshot of the cover art for Pixies’ fourth album Bossanova via mobile phone via streaming app on a TV box, thus the raster lines.

This is not a set of album reviews, just felt like posting about them.

1980s Pixies

As crazily wild as these early Pixies‘ albums are, I was incredibly attached to them, and even though I grew up in a fairly conservative environment, these albums were a perfect antithesis to my world, …sonically, lyrically, design-wise, so, basically in every way. But the graphic design and photography were a key ingredient for me. Some of the parts revolting, jarring, gritty, sci-fi, graphically driven, etc. All of them groundbreaking to me. In an era of big hair and spaceship logo rock, this was altogether a different set of ingredients.

Let’s add in some specific memories and then talk about the cover art. I’ve created a few adjectives to hopefully help you get an idea about each album.

Come On Pilgrim, The Pixies’ first album

Come On Pilgrim (1987)

A primal, eerie, and jagged-edgy group of tracks.
https://www.discogs.com/master/16745-Pixies-Come-On-Pilgrim

Surfer Rosa, Pixies’ second album

Surfer Rosa (1988)

Also a primal, eerie, and jagged-edgy group of tracks just like the first, but this time more complex.
https://www.discogs.com/master/16731-Pixies-Surfer-Rosa

Snapshot of the cover art for Pixies’ third album Doolittle via mobile phone via streaming app on a TV box, thus the raster lines.

Doolittle (1989)

A melodic, cryptic, and dynamic collection of tracks, some a bit more poppy but others very uniquely crazy.
https://www.discogs.com/master/16764-Pixies-Doolittle

Memories

I may have heard a track or two off of Surfer Rosa and Come On Pilgrim, but I want to say that the first Pixies music I bought was on cassette and it was Doolittle. Despite saying that it has a more pop sensibility, there are many parts to some of those songs that are just not attractive songs, but that carry a lot of expression that I was particularly ‘keyed up about,’ as dad might say. But I didn’t ever play this record for dad.

From devils and numbers, to waves of mutilation, Eiffel towers, tattoo’d bits, pain, …this was pure essence and oddball stuff.

Frankly, however, it’s one of my favorite albums of all time.

Snapshot of the cover art for Pixies’ fourth album Bossanova via mobile phone via streaming app on a TV box, thus the raster lines.

Bossanova (1990)

A spacy, polished, yet hypnotic group of tracks.
https://www.discogs.com/master/16787-Pixies-Bossanova

Memories

I didn’t see this album until around 1993 while travelling in Germany. It’s odd to me that this album didn’t seem to be marketed much, or maybe I just wasn’t in the right stores. This album still pretty gritty, like before, but the songs are more about being in love with mysterious women (at least seven of the tracks?), beaches, the UFO-laden desert heat, and other bizarre topics. But one thing that was still there was the somehow strange yet impressive song timing as before, switching between 3/4 and 4/4 time mid-song was a favorite feature of theirs to me.

There are some really nice surf-punk and surf-rock melodies here, and the …oh, why not just check it out? …starting with Ana. Also, Havalina is a solid hypnotic finisher.

All Over the World is one of my favorite tracks.

Cover art for Pixies’ fifth album Trompe Le Monde

Trompe le Monde (1991)

A frenetic, futuristic, and battleaxe sharp group of tracks.
https://www.discogs.com/master/16797-Pixies-Trompe-Le-Monde

Memories

Another album that I surely stumbled upon shortly after Bossanova or perhaps at the same time? Either way, these two albums blend together for me. There is a speedier edge to this one, though. Oh, wait, the "Eiffel Tower" track is actually on this album. My bad (I mean, how PRO is this site, right?). There’s a nice cover of Jesus & Mary Chain’s Head On and a driving Subbacultcha. Before you get there, the track Letter to Memphis has been in my head a lot lately. So many Pixies tracks … so many that sometimes the titles aren’t attached to the song for me. Truly some are a batch of musical feelings with noise and words.

Then some more spacey futuristic tracks, and the lovely Motorway to Roswell that has the most lovely outro piano ever. I’m sure it would segue very well into another piano track, perhaps?

Cover Artwork

Design by Vaughan Oliver through v23 for the label 4AD.

I’ve covered Oliver’s work before, but he’s a formidable power with album cover art design. I had a book about his work which was incredible, but I donated it to a type design conference. Surely someone else will also be blown away by it.

These albums are frequently played by me, be it on the re-acquired iPod, the Pixies mixtape I made recently for the Walkman, or streaming.

NOTE: All of these images are taken with my phone camera from the album covers while being played on the TV from Music. But I have them all on vinyl, too, just in case I have a stray moment with no responsibilities and the desire to time travel.

Oliver

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaughan_Oliver

Of note, Pixies’ latest 2025 album was not designed by Oliver, that I know of, because he passed away a few years ago in 2019. But clearly the designer they’re using is adept at continuing his design language. I’ll have to do a review of that one soon.

Wife and I are headed to the summer tour show here in Seattle in June.
Perhaps I’ll post about that at the same time.

WhilePlaying:
Motorway to Roswell by The Pixies
https://music.apple.com/us/album/motorway-to-roswell/1457604293?i=1457605143

Shared:
https://typo.social/@Luke/114379702173736127