Since forming in Boston in 1986, Pixies have been one of the most influential bands in alternative music. Bands such as Nirvana, Radiohead, Pavement, and The Strokes have all looked to the group for inspiration.
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1. Nirvana
For Kurt Cobain, Pixies’ debut album, Surfer Rosa, was a touchstone. Cobain tried writing his own Pixies song, and the result was “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” He wanted to write, in his words, “the ultimate pop song.” And to do that, he needed to “rip off Pixies.” Nirvana chose Steve Albini—Surfer Rosa’s producer—to work on their third and final album, In Utero.
2. David Bowie
Another famous musician inspired by Surfer Rosa was David Bowie. When Bowie discovered Pixies in 1988, he thought they were the most exciting band of the decade. Seeking another reinvention, Bowie formed Tin Machine with guitarist Reeves Gabrels, now a member of The Cure. Tin Machine covered the Pixies classic “Debaser.” Later in his career, Bowie also covered Surfer Rosa’s “Cactus” on his 2002 album Heathen.
3. Radiohead
Radiohead were fans of the northeast alternative rock bands in America, especially Pixies. EMI hired producers Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade, who had worked with Pixies, to produce Radiohead’s debut album, Pablo Honey. Kolderie had engineered Surfer Rosa.
The initial sessions weren’t going well. The band was recording two songs as potential singles, “Inside My Head” and “Lurgee.” Kolderie wasn’t happy with the results. Thom Yorke began playing a song called “Creep” that Slade thought was a Scott Walker cover. Then Yorke told the producers he had written it. The song followed Pixies’ quiet-loud-quiet-loud format, and it was immediately apparent this was Radiohead’s best song. Kolderie said, “Everyone at EMI who heard ‘Creep’ just started going insane.”
Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien said they just happened to catch a wave of popularity for Pixies-inspired songs with quiet verses and loud choruses like Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Though “Creep” wasn’t an immediate success, it eventually caught on. Radiohead, like Nirvana before them, became one of the biggest rock bands on the planet.
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Pixies wrote songs that sounded like neurotic versions of The Beatles, and they combined their instinct for pop melody with the spirit of punk rock. The band’s singer and primary songwriter, Black Francis, wrote vivid pop songs about unconventional topics. An example of his offbeat themes is “Where Is My Mind?” from Surfer Rosa, written about a small fish chasing Francis while scuba diving in the Caribbean.
Francis connected to alienated youth disgusted with popular culture in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Bands like Radiohead, Nirvana, and Smashing Pumpkins eschewed rock clichés. This music was the middle finger to Reagan and Thatcher. Four power chords from Kurt Cobain swept aside the bloat and excess of the ’80s responsible for hair metal bands like Poison and Warrant. The hairspray, the pointy guitars, all of it, immediately irrelevant shortly after “Smells Like Teen Spirit” landed. And none of this happens without Pixies songs like “Debaser” or “Monkey Gone to Heaven” from the band’s second album, Doolittle.
4. Weezer
But it wasn’t only Black Francis. Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago created memorable textures by adding mini-hooks to Francis’ vocal melodies. Listen to Weezer’s self-titled debut album to hear Santiago’s influence. Rivers Cuomo’s guitar playing on “Undone—The Sweater Song” is pulled straight from Santiago. And the composition is pure Black Francis. Or check out the quiet verses and loud choruses on “Say It Ain’t So.” Full-on Pixies.
Looking at the bands Pixies influenced, there’s a good argument to be made that they are as influential as The Beatles. Their impact is reminiscent of The Velvet Underground, who weren’t commercially successful, but their fans formed bands like Sonic Youth, R.E.M., and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
Pixies also had the coolest bass player in rock ‘n’ roll, and her name is Kim Deal. The Dandy Warhols wrote an ode to Deal called “Cool as Kim Deal.” They weren’t the only ones who felt this way. Smashing Pumpkins followed suit with an ultra-cool female bass player in D’arcy Wretzky. There was nothing accidental about these moves. It’s traceable to The Velvet Underground’s drummer, Moe Tucker. And it may have inspired one Polly Jean (a.k.a. P.J.) Harvey to pick up a guitar because, as Deal made apparent, the girls could rock, too.
5. Foo Fighters
The sound of Steve Albini’s engineering and the pocket groove of Pixies drummer David Lovering directly influenced Dave Grohl, as well. “Scentless Apprentice,” In Utero’s opening track, could have easily been on a Pixies album. And speaking of Grohl, Foo Fighters’ second album, The Colour and the Shape,” was produced by Gil Norton, who produced Pixies’ Doolittle, Bossanova, and Trompe le Monde.
Sometimes, the major label record machine isn’t necessary. Surfer Rosa was made on a tiny budget, and Steve Albini was paid only $1,500 to produce the album. A British indie label called 4AD released Surfer Rosa, and initially it was only available in the U.S. as an import. It took 17 years for the album to be certified Gold. In the meantime, Pixies had changed rock ‘n’ roll.
Photo by Michael Loccisano/FilmMagic
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