4
Oct 11
The Pixies: “Gigantic”
If you're over the age of 18, please proceed. If not, please avert your impressionable little eyes.
Onward and backward to Day 2 of Pixies Week here at Reselect.com! And by “backward” I mean that we’re moving away from Trompe Le Monde today, back to the Pixies’ first full-length album, Surfer Rosa. We’ll be checking back in with Trompe le Monde a couple more times over the course of the week, naturally, being its 20th anniversary and all, but there’s so much other great Pixies music out there for the listening…
I’m selecting “Gigantic” today, as it was the song that introduced me to the Pixies. When I first heard it back in 1988, when WFNX in Boston first started playing it, little did I know that I was hearing the first sounds of what was to become one of my favorite bands. “Little did I know,” I say, but then again, if I had known then that they would have so much more music that equaled or surpassed “Gigantic,” it would have been an easy assumption. It jumped out of my speakers and grabbed my full attention immediately, with the sparse, quiet bass playing and seductive singing of Kim Deal (upon hearing the rest of Surfer Rosa, which I ran out to buy at Newbury Comics as soon as I could, “seductive and cute” seemed more accurate), followed by the churning guitars and massive kick of “Gigantic…a big big love!” I thought Kim was pretty damned cool, and that Black Francis was at least a little off his rocker. Joey Santiago and David Lovering simply kicked butt.
And I still have a big, big love for this song, indeed, all these years later.
After years still a great song.
The top moment is when the pre-chorus starts with the drums, such a punch (also thanks to Steve Albini recording)…
Yep, that’s a great moment…Albini was a great choice.
ufo’s,eyeballs and the river euphrates,wipe it on your dress and send it to me….i miss your soup, and i miss your bread,and a letter in your writing does’nt mean your’e not dead.Even david bowie and thom yorke are in awe of the pixies!!!!that’s how good they are…….LONG LIVE THE PIXIES!!!!!
From what I’ve read, although Kurt Cobain readily admitted to stealing from the Pixies, David Bowie initially disliked Nirvana for that very reason, because Bowie was such a fan of the Pixies. But I suspect he got over it…
I was lucky enough to find the Surfer Rosa/ Come on Pilgrim all those years ago. Unfortunately, it’s long gone. Definitely one of the greatest bands of all time!
Well, I hope you’ve got them on CD now! Thankfully, I still have my vinyl copies as well. I bought Come On Pilgrim after Surfer Rosa, and while it certainly has its great songs, Surfer Rosa is where it all comes together.
Actually one of my least favorite songs on the album… well, maybe not least, but not as good as Bone Machine, Brick is Red.
Surfer Rosa is probably the least accessible albums from the Pixies, but quite possibly my favorite. I think Doolittle has stronger songs in parts, like Gouge Away, Tame etc, but as a whole this is a better album imo.
Well, it certainly is the poppiest song on the album, so if you’re more inclined to the harsher edge of other songs on the album, that’s understandable. I think arguments could be made both ways in the Surfer Rosa vs. Doolittle debate, so I opt to just not compare them and enjoy them equally!