153: Pixies - Doolittle (1989)

December 24, 2024 / Amanda Rodgers

“We can play loud or quiet – that's it.”

—Black Francis

Well, sit right down, my wicked son, and let us tell you a story, about the subject of this year’s Discord & Rhyme holiday episode: the Pixies! (Or technically, just Pixies.) Hailing from Boston, the alternative rock quartet dealt with mounting intra-band tension with little to nothing to show for it financially, leading bandleader Charles Thompson (alias Black Francis) to break up the band via fax in 1991. But the band’s critical stature gradually grew to gigantic proportions in the ‘90s, as their albums influenced bands like Pavement, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, Weezer, and especially Nirvana, who built an entire movement out of the classic Pixies “quiet-loud” formula. When they reunited for a reunion tour in 2004, they found, much to their shock and awe, that their songs had grown into anthems. Their 1989 album Doolittle is arguably the peak of their original run, featuring songs that could plausibly fill an arena without sacrificing their scrappy indie energy, so join Rich, John, and Dan as they sail away on a (festive) wave of mutilation.

Miscellany

The following sources provided a good (kim) deal of the background info for this episode:

Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies by Josh Frank and Caryn Ganz features detailed information from every member of the band about the full history of the Pixies up to their mid-2000s reunion, as well as good info from other musicians, producers, record industry veterans, and other people in their general orbit.
For the Doolittle entry of the 33⅓ series, Ben Sisario got to spend a day in Oregon with Charles Thompson, who flexes his anonymity as a rock star by buying a copy of Doolittle from a record store clerk who doesn’t recognize him. Sisario is an intelligent, insightful writer who clearly understands the Pixies’ unique dynamic and philosophy, and the book concludes with a complete track-by-track rundown of Doolittle.
The documentary LoudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies, directed by Steven Cantor and Matthew Galkin, chronicles the Pixies’ first reunion tour in 2004. The members had not seen one another in more than 10 years, and the film is a fascinating look at four very normal and very different people coming to grips with their newfound legacy. As of the release of this episode, Roku users can stream it for free with ads on The Roku Channel.

The Pixies cover of “Wild Honey Pie” was not just a random choice: the Beatles’ White Album is one of Black Francis’s favorite albums, and its sprawling, diverse, bite-sized songs in a variety of tones and sung in a variety of character voices were a huge influence on Doolittle. We covered the full White Album two years ago in our super-sized 100th episode.
We didn’t talk much about the current version of the Pixies, but Francis, Santiago and Lovering have been touring and recording consistently since the 2010s with various stand-in bassists and vocalists in Kim Deal’s place. The albums are listenable but unremarkable, and John reviewed Indie Cindy, Head Carrier, and Beneath the Eyrie on his website’s Pixies page.
As a companion to “First World Problems,” Producer Mike informed us of the existence of this excellent live version of “I Bleed” featuring “Weird Al” Yankovic on vocals.

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call

Rich Bunnell (moderator)
John McFerrin
Dan Watkins

Doolittle tracklist

Debaser
Tame
Wave of Mutilation
I Bleed
Here Comes Your Man
Dead
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Mr. Greives
Crackity Jones
La La Love You
No. 13 Baby
There Goes My Gun
Hey
Silver
Gouge Away

Other clips used

Pixies:

Where Is My Mind?
Caribou
Bone Machine
Debaser (Demo 1)
Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
Wave of Mutilation (Demo 1)
Gigantic
Manta Ray
Alec Eiffel
Wild Honey Pie
Cactus

Others:

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
David Bowie - Cactus
Frank Black - Los Angeles
Frank Black - Headache
New Order - Age of Consent
Nirvana - Scentless Apprentice
The Beach Boys - Never Learn Not to Love
Hüsker Dü - Could You Be the One?
Def Leppard - Animal
Weezer - Undone - The Sweater Song
My Bloody Valentine - I Only Said
R.E.M. - Letter Never Sent
The Velvet Underground - There She Goes Again
The Velvet Underground - Beginning to See the Light
The Bloodhound Gang - Fire Water Burn
TV on the Radio - Mr. Greives
The Clash - Hateful
"Weird Al" Yankovic - First World Problems
XV - Nevermind
Diplo - Must Be the Devil
Pigeon John - Money Back Guarantee
Meat Beat Manifesto - Now
The Grateful Dead - Samson and Delilah
The Cars - Just What I Needed
Frank Black - (I Want to Live on an) Abstract Plain
Kim Deal - A Good Time Pushed
Rockabye Baby! - Debaser

Band/album personnel

Black Francis – vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
Kim Deal – bass guitar, vocals, acoustic slide guitar (14)
Joey Santiago – lead guitar, backing vocals
David Lovering – drums, lead vocal (10), bass guitar (14)
Karen Karlsrud – violin (7)
Corine Metter – violin (7)
Arthur Fiacco – cello (7)
Ann Rorich – cello (7)
Gil Norton – producer, engineer
Dave Snider – assistant engineer
Matt Lane – assistant engineer
Steve Haigler – mixing

Credits

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:

Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Pixies - I Bleed (this episode only)

You can buy Doolittle and other albums by Pixies at your local record store, and you can also buy or stream it at the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing and production are by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for the introduction and theme song. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.

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