Coda.fm

Doolittle

by Pixies

• Listen to a preview now
• Buy it at Amazon.com

Yeah, Kim Deal made a big splash of her own, and Frank Black is still holding his own. But as any Pixies fan will tell you, and as Doolittle suggests (like "ten million pounds of sludge" to the head), the Pixies rocked harder than the sum of their parts. They were masters of dynamics (check out "Monkey Gone to Heaven," or "Hey"), moving from quietly subdued to all-out head-banging and back before you could say "la la love you." Black Francis was one of the most unique vocal stylists of the '80s. His duets with bassist Deal, "I Bleed" and "Silver," work the way Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong worked together. And it's still staggering how much Joey Santiago, lead guitarist, could accomplish with one simple, single note. "Here Comes Your Man," by the way, is as straightforwardly poppy as the Pixies ever got, so enjoy it. --Dan Leone