Doolittle — 1989

Background

Doolittle was released in 1989, the Pixies' second album, produced by Gil Norton with a cleaner, more polished sound than their raw debut Surfer Rosa, while retaining the band's signature dynamic shifts between quiet verses and explosive, distorted choruses that would prove hugely influential on the alternative rock that followed.

Sound

'Debaser' opens the album referencing the surrealist film Un Chien Andalou over one of the band's most instantly recognisable riffs, immediately establishing the record's blend of art-school references and visceral rock energy; 'Here Comes Your Man' brought a more straightforwardly melodic, almost pop sensibility, while 'Monkey Gone to Heaven' pairs cryptic, environmentally themed lyrics with a string arrangement that added unexpected orchestral weight to the band's sound.

Dynamics

The quiet-loud-quiet structure that runs through much of the album — Black Francis's screamed vocals erupting suddenly from otherwise restrained verses, Kim Deal's melodic basslines and harmonies providing a grounding counterpoint — became one of the most widely imitated structural templates in 1990s alternative rock, Kurt Cobain among the artists who directly credited the Pixies' dynamic approach as a formative influence on his own songwriting.

Legacy

Doolittle is now almost universally regarded as the Pixies' finest album and one of the most influential alternative rock records of its era, its combination of surreal, literate lyricism and dynamically explosive arrangements having directly shaped the sound of grunge and alternative rock through the following decade. Its influence on the broader 1990s alternative rock landscape is difficult to overstate.