Surfer Rosa is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in March 1988 on the British label 4AD.[5] It was produced by Steve Albini. Surfer Rosa contains many of the elements of Pixies' earlier output, including Spanish lyrics and references to Puerto Rico. It includes references to mutilation and voyeurism alongside experimental recording techniques and a distinctive drum sound.
Surfer Rosa is often included on critics' lists of the best rock albums. Alternative rock artists including Billy Corgan and PJ Harvey have cited it as an inspiration; it was an influence on Nirvana's 1993 album In Utero, which Albini also produced.
Background
Before the release of Pixies' debut mini-albumCome On Pilgrim in October 1987, Ivo Watts-Russell, head of 4AD, suggested they return to the studio to record a full-length album. The original plan was to record new material at Fort Apache Studios, where the band had produced The Purple Tape and Come On Pilgrim. However, due to differences between the band's manager Ken Goes and The Purple Tape producer Gary Smith, Pixies ended up looking for a new producer and recording studio. On the advice of a 4AD colleague, Watts-Russell looked to hire Steve Albini as the record's engineer and producer. Having sent a pre-release tape of Come On Pilgrim to Albini, Goes invited him to a Boston dinner party at drummer David Lovering's house a few weeks after Come On Pilgrim's release.
Albini met the band that evening, and they discussed how the next record should sound and be recorded. Albini said that, "[the band and I] were in the studio the next day."[6]Paul Q. Kolderie, who had worked at Fort Apache Studios with Smith, recommended the Boston recording studio Q Division to Albini.[7] This created tension between Smith and Kolderie, and Kolderie later remarked that "Gary almost killed me for the suggestion, he thought I was scheming to get the project."[8]
Recording and production
Pixies entered Q Division in December 1987,[9] booking ten working days of studio time in which to record the album.[10] 4AD allocated Pixies a budget of US$10,000, with the total costs amounting to about $18,000.[11][12] Albini's producer's fee was US$1,500, and he received no royalties;[13] Albini had a practice of refusing royalties from records he produces, viewing it as "an insult to the band."[14] Along with Albini in the studio, Q Division's Jon Lupfer acted as studio assistant.[8] The recording process took the entire booked period of ten working days to complete, with extra vocal mixes subsequently added in the studio.[15] Albini planned to mix the record "somewhere else", but according to Lupfer, "He was unhappy there with it."[16]
Albini's recording techniques
During Kim Deal's vocals takes during "Where Is My Mind?" and "Gigantic", he moved the equipment to record into a studio bathroom to achieve more "roomy" echo. John Murphy, Deal's then husband, said, "Albini didn't like the studio sound".[17] Albini later said that the record could have been completed in a week, but "we ended up trying more experimental stuff basically to kill time and see if anything good materialized."[7] An example was "Something Against You", where Albini filtered Black Francis' voice through a guitar amp for "a totally ragged, vicious texture."[18]
Studio banter
The recording of a conversation held between Francis and Albini can be heard at the end of "Oh My Golly!". Lupfer writes that "it was a concept he [Albini] was going for to get some studio banter." As Deal was leaving the studio to smoke a cigarette, she exclaimed "If anybody touches my stuff, I'll kill ya." Francis replied with "I'll kill you, you fucking die, if anybody touches my stuff". The track begins at this point, with Francis explaining the conversation to Albini, whose voice is not heard on the track.[19] Lupfer later admitted that Albini knew "perfectly well what was going on."[20]
"I'm Amazed" begins with Deal recounting a story in which one of her former teachers who was "into field hockey players" was discreetly fired. Francis finishes Deal's sentences, joking that her response to hearing of the teacher's activities was to try to join the team.[21] Albini later observed the use of studio banter on Surfer Rosa: "It's on their record forever so I think now they are obliged to say that they're ok with it, but I honestly don't know that that idea would've ever come up if I hadn't done it. There are times when things like that are revealing and entertaining and I kind of felt it was a bit gimmicky on this record."[22]
is the seventh track of Surfer Rosa. This sample contains the end of the third verse and part of the chorus. Santiago's erratic lead guitar plays a key part in the song's melody.
Like Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa displays a mix of musical styles; pop guitar songs such as "Broken Face", "Break My Body", and "Brick Is Red" are featured alongside slower, more melodic tracks exemplified by "Where Is My Mind?". The album includes heavier material, and prominently features the band's trademark quiet-loud dynamic. Frontman and principal songwriter Black Francis wrote the material, the only exception being "Gigantic," which was co-written with Kim Deal. "Gigantic" is one of only two Pixies album tracks on which Deal sang lead vocals.
Surfer Rosa's lyrical content includes examinations of mutilation and incest in "Break My Body" and "Broken Face", while references to superheroes appear on "Tony's Theme". Voyeurism appears in "Gigantic", and surrealistic lyrics are featured on "Bone Machine" and "Where Is My Mind?". Puerto Rico references and Spanish lyrics are found on the tracks "Oh My Golly!" and "Vamos." The latter track was previously featured on Come On Pilgrim, and appears on Surfer Rosa as a rerecorded version of the original song. Many of the themes explored on previous recordings are revisited on Surfer Rosa; however, unlike on the band's later albums, the songs in Surfer Rosa are not preoccupied with one overarching topic.
Other unusual and offbeat subject matter is raised on the album. "Cactus" is narrated by a prison inmate who requests his girlfriend smear her dress with blood and mail it to him.[15] "Gigantic" is about an illicit love affair[23] and borrows from the 1986 film Crimes of the Heart, in which a married woman falls in love with a teenager. Francis was inspired to write "Where Is My Mind?" after scuba diving in the Caribbean. He later said he had "this very small fish trying to chase me. I don't know why—I don't know too much about fish behavior."[24]
Release
Surfer Rosa was released in the UK by 4AD on March 21, 1988, entering the UK Indie Chart the following week. It spent 60 weeks in the chart, peaking at number 2.[25] Until August of that year it was only available in the U.S. as an import. Although the label held worldwide distribution rights to Pixies, they did not have access to a distributor outside the UK. When 4AD signed a distribution deal with Rough Trade's U.S. branch, the album was released on vinyl and cassette as part of the Surfer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim release. While Surfer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim has remained in print on CD in the UK, subsequent U.S. releases have seen the two released on separate CDs. These separate releases first appeared in January 1992, when Elektra Records first reissued the band's first two albums. After 4AD reacquired rights to the band's U.S. distribution, they released both as separate CDs.[26]Surfer Rosa was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2005, 17 years after its original release.[27]
"Gigantic" was the only single taken from Surfer Rosa. The track and its B-side, "River Euphrates", were rerecorded by Gil Norton at Blackwing Studios in London, early in May 1988.[28] The remixed single was well met by critics.[29] The single failed to sell, and spent just one week at number 93 on the UK Singles Chart.[30] Despite the poor commercial performance of both Surfer Rosa and "Gigantic", Ivo Watts-Russell has said that the response to the album was "times five" compared with Come On Pilgrim.[31]
Packaging
"Surfer Rosa#2" from the album's cover booklet.
Surfer Rosa's cover artwork features a photograph of a topless "friend of a friend" of the band, posing as a flamenco dancer, pitched against a wall which displays a crucifix and a torn poster. Simon Larbalestier, who contributed pictures to all Pixies album sleeves, decided to build the set because "we couldn't find the atmosphere we wanted naturally." According to Larbalestier, Black Francis came up with the idea for the cover as he wrote songs in his father's "topless Spanish bar"; Larbalestier added the crucifix and torn poster, and they "sort of loaded that with all the Catholicism."[32] Commenting on the cover in 2005, Francis said, "I just hope people find it tasteful."[33] The cover booklet expands on the theme, and features photographs of the flamenco dancer in several other poses; there are no song lyrics or written content, apart from album credits, in the booklet.
The booklet's photographs were taken in one day at a pub opposite the 4AD offices, because, according to Larbalestier, "it was one of the few places that had a raised stage".[32] In a 1988 interview with Joy Press, Black Francis described the concept as referring to "a surfer girl," who "walks along the Beach of Piñones, has a surfboard, very beautiful." When questioned about the topless element, he replied, "For the first record, I told them I liked nudity. I like body lines—not necessarily something in bad taste, didn't even have to be female, just body lines... like that Obsession ad, you know?"[18] According to Melody Maker, the album was originally entitled "Gigantic" after Deal's song, but the band feared misinterpretation of the cover and changed it to "Surfer Rosa."[34] The "name" of the cover woman, and the album title, comes from the "Oh My Golly!" lyric "Besando chichando con surfer rosa", which roughly translates to "Kissing, having sex with Surfer Rosa".
UK music press reviews of Surfer Rosa were generally positive. Q's Ian Cranna wrote that "what sets the Pixies apart are their sudden bursts of memorable pop melody," and noted that "they could have a bright future ahead of them." NME's Mark Sinker, reviewing the album in March 1988, said "they force the past to sound like them",[37] while Dave Henderson from Underground magazine found the songs "well crafted, well delivered sketches which embrace commercial ideals as well as bizarre left-field out of control moments".[44] John Dougan of American music magazine Spin described it as "beautifully brutal",[45] and the magazine later named Pixies their musicians of the year.[46] In a less enthusiastic contemporary review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau found the band's guitar riffs recognizable and their strong rhythms unique, but felt they had been overrated by critics who hailed them as "the Amerindie find of the year".[43] In a 2003 review of the Pixies' 2002 self-titled EP, Christgau wrote that while he initially found Francis' fey and philosophically limited lyrics somewhat annoying, Surfer Rosa now seemed "audaciously funny and musically prophetic".[47]
At the end of 1988, Surfer Rosa was named one of the year's best albums on English critics' year-end lists. Independent music magazines Melody Maker and Sounds named Surfer Rosa as their album of the year; NME and Record Mirror placed the album 10th and 14th, respectively.[23] A number of music magazines have since positioned Surfer Rosa as one of the quintessential alternative rock records of the 1980s. The album has appeared on several all-time best album lists, and is consistently placed as one of the best albums of the 1980s in any genre.[citation needed]
As of 2015, sales in the United States have exceeded 705,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[48]
Legacy
Both Surfer Rosa and Steve Albini's production of the album have been influential on alternative rock, and on grunge in particular. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain cited Surfer Rosa as the basis for Nevermind's songwriting.[49] When he first heard the album, Cobain discovered a template for the mix of heavy noise and pop he was aiming to achieve. He remarked in 1992 that he "heard songs off of Surfer Rosa that I'd written but threw out because I was too afraid to play them for anybody."[50] Cobain listed Surfer Rosa as one of the top 50 albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his journal in 1993.[51] Cobain hired Albini to produce Nirvana's 1993 album In Utero, primarily due to his contribution to Surfer Rosa.[52]
The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan described Surfer Rosa as "the one that made me go, 'holy shit'. It was so fresh. It rocked without being lame." Corgan was impressed by the album's drum sound, and acknowledged that The Smashing Pumpkins used to study the record for its technical elements.[31]Nada Surf have also cited the album as an influence.[53] Musician PJ Harvey said that Surfer Rosa "blew my mind," and that she "immediately went to track down Steve Albini."[54]Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, comparing the record to the later Pixies albums Bossanova and Trompe le Monde, said he thought that Albini's production "sounded way better than the other ones".[55]
Ivo Watts-Russell recalled: "I remember when I first heard Surfer Rosa thinking, 'I didn't know the Pixies could sound like The Fall.' That was my immediate reaction, in other words, incredibly raw." Gary Smith, who at the time was in a disagreement with the band, admitted he "was really happy that they had made such a forceful, aggressive, record."
In 1991, as Pixies were recording Trompe le Monde, Albini told the fan magazine Forced Exposure that Surfer Rosa was "a patchwork pinch loaf from a band who at their top dollar best are blandly entertaining college rock", and said of the band: "Their willingness to be 'guided' by their manager, their record company and their producers is unparalleled. Never have I seen four cows more anxious to be led around by their nose rings."[13] In 2005, Albini apologized for the remarks, saying: "To this day I regret having done it. I don't think that I regarded the band as significantly as I should have."[56] In 2023, he said Surfer Rosa was "a better record than I thought it was at the time".[57]
For the Surfer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim release, the eight tracks of Come On Pilgrim appear after "Brick is Red".
The untitled eleventh track consists of a quiet recording of conversation in the studio. It exists as a separate track on some CD releases but is not listed on the artwork. As such, after track 10, the track listing numbering on the artwork does not match actual tracks on those CDs.
The album was re-mastered and released in 2007 as a Hybrid Super Audio CD disc by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab from recently discovered, first-generation analog original master tapes. The studio banter that makes up the untitled track on other releases is on the same track as "Oh My Golly!".
Personnel
All information taken from the CD release of Surfer Rosa.
Pixies
Black Francis– vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
Kim Deal– bass, vocals, lead vocals on "Gigantic" (credited as Mrs. John Murphy)
The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts formed in 1986 by Black Francis, Joey Santiago, Kim Deal and David Lovering (drums). The pop sound influenced acts such as Nirvana, Radiohead, the Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer.
The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal, her twin sister Kelley Deal, Josephine Wiggs and Jim Macpherson (drums).
Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black. After releasing two albums with record label 4AD and one with American Recordings, he left the label and formed a new band, Frank Black and the Catholics. He re-adopted the name Black Francis in 2007.
Kimberley Ann Deal is an American musician. She was the original bassist and co-vocalist in the alternative rock band Pixies from 1986 to 1993 and 2004 to 2013, and is the frontwoman of the Breeders, which she formed in 1989.
Doolittle, the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, was released on April 17, 1989, on 4AD records. The album was an instant critical success and became the band's breakthrough album. Doolittle was especially well received in Europe, where the British music weeklies Melody Maker and Sounds named it their album of the year. Pixies' main songwriter and lead vocalist Black Francis wrote the idiosyncratic lyrics, which allude to surrealist imagery, biblical violence, and descriptions of torture and death.
Bossanova is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Pixies. It was released on August 13, 1990, by English independent record label 4AD in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Because of 4AD's independent status, major label Elektra handled distribution in the USA.
Come On Pilgrim is the debut mini-album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released on September 28, 1987, on 4AD. Produced by Gary Smith, the release consists of eight tracks from a seventeen-song recording session that the band had recorded at Fort Apache Studios in March 1987.
Joseph Alberto Santiago is a Filipino-American guitarist and composer. Active since 1986, Santiago is best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the alternative rock band Pixies. After the band's breakup in 1993, Santiago produced musical scores for film and television documentaries, and he formed The Martinis with his ex-wife, Linda Mallari. He also contributed to albums by Charles Douglas and former Pixies band-mate Frank Black. Santiago resumed his role as the Pixies' lead guitarist when they reunited in 2004.
Trompe le Monde is the fourth studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released on September 23, 1991 on 4AD in the United Kingdom and on September 24, 1991, on Elektra Records in the United States. Recorded in Burbank, California, Paris and London, the album was produced by Gil Norton, and was Pixies' final studio album before their break-up two years later. There would be no Pixies' albums of new material for 23 years after Trompe le Monde.
David Sullivan Lovering is an American musician and magician. He is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band Pixies, which he joined in 1986. After the band's breakup in 1993, Lovering drummed with several other acts, including The Martinis, Cracker, Nitzer Ebb and Tanya Donelly. He also pursued a magic career as the Scientific Phenomenalist, performing scientific and physics-based experiments on stage. When the Pixies reunited in 2004, Lovering returned as the band's drummer.
Pixies is an EP by the American alternative rock band of the same name, released in 2002 by SpinART Records in the U.S., Cooking Vinyl in the UK and Sonic Unyon in Canada. It consists of the remaining songs from the band's original 17-track demo tape, eight songs of which were released in 1987 as the band's debut, Come On Pilgrim. All 17 songs were recorded by Gary Smith at Fort Apache Studios in March 1987.
Pod is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band the Breeders, released by 4AD records on May 29, 1990. Engineered by Steve Albini, the album features band leader Kim Deal on vocals and guitar, Josephine Wiggs on bass, Britt Walford on drums, and Tanya Donelly on guitar. Albini's production prioritized sound over technical accomplishment; the final takes favor the band's spontaneous live "in studio" performances.
Frank Black is the debut solo album by American alternative rock musician Frank Black. The album was recorded in 1992 and released on March 8, 1993, via 4AD and Elektra Records, after the breakup of Black's band Pixies.
Vaughan Oliver was a British graphic designer based in Epsom, Surrey. Oliver was best known for his work with graphic design studios 23 Envelope and v23. Both studios maintained a close relationship with record label 4AD between 1982 and 1998 and gave distinct visual identities for the 4AD releases by many bands, including Mojave 3, Lush, Cocteau Twins, The Breeders, This Mortal Coil, Pale Saints, Pixies, and Throwing Muses. Oliver also designed record sleeves for such artists as David Sylvian, The Golden Palominos, and Bush.
"Here Comes Your Man" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, written and sung by the band's frontman Black Francis. Produced by Gil Norton, it was released as the second single from the group's second album Doolittle in June 1989.
"Gigantic" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, co-written by bassist Kim Deal and lead vocalist/guitarist Black Francis. The song appeared on the band's first full-length studio album, Surfer Rosa, released in 1988. One of the longest songs on the album, "Gigantic" was released as the band's first single later that year.
"Velouria" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, written and sung by the band's frontman Black Francis. The song was written as a love song rooted in Francis's experience with a girl associated with the Rosicrucians of Northern California. The lyrics also touched on Francis's interest in UFOs. Musically, the song features surf rock elements as well as a prominent theremin part.
"Cactus" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, and is the eighth track on their 1988 album Surfer Rosa. It was written and sung by the band's frontman Black Francis and engineered by Steve Albini.
The discography of Pixies, an American alternative rock band, includes eight studio albums, 26 singles, seven compilations, one mini-LP, and five EPs as of September 2024.
Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies is a 2005 book by Josh Frank and Caryn Ganz about the American alternative rock band Pixies. The book, written as an oral history, covers the career of the band from their inception in 1985, to their breakup in 1993 and eventual reunion in 2004. Fool the World features interviews and recollections from a range of characters involved with the band, including Surfer Rosa producer Steve Albini, Kim Deal's twin sister Kelley Deal and 4AD co-founder Ivo Watts-Russell, as well as each member of the band.
↑ Mervis, Scott (June 8, 2021). "Pixies will play Stage AE in September". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 6, 2021. The Boston band debuted in 1988 with "Surfer Rosa," introducing its unique form of quiet-to-loud art-punk and, over the course of a few years, hit the college airwaves with such songs as "Gigantic," "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and "Here Comes Your Man."
↑ Staunton, Terry (August 11, 1990). "Pixies – Bossanova". NME. Archived from the original on October 12, 2000. Retrieved August 29, 2015. Gil Norton's production leans towards the harsh garage grunge of 'Surfer Rosa', although the songs retain the strong melodies of 'Doolittle'. In many ways, 'Bossanova' is the composite Pixies LP, the most positive elements of its two predecessors blended together to make one of the most intriguing and listenable albums of the year.
↑ The Pixies' previous release, Come On Pilgrim, was an EP rather than a full album.
↑ Dolan, Jon (December 2008 – January 2009). "Pixies: Surfer Rosa". Blender. Vol.7, no.11. New York. p.86. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2015.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
1 2 Sinker, Mark (March 19, 1988). "Surf Pixies: Must Buy!". NME. London. p.31. Archived from the original on September 30, 2000. Retrieved May 26, 2016.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
↑ Christgau, Robert (February 1, 2003). "Consumer Guide: The Prelude". The Village Voice. New York. Archived from the original on April 25, 2003. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
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