Pixies- Surfer Rosa (Originally released on 4AD Records in 1988)

Speaking as a child of the 90s, I was introduced to the Pixies via Nirvana (Kurt Cobain had chosen Steve Albini to record In Utero because of his work on Surfer Rosa). “Where Is My Mind?” also got the Pixies more exposure once Fight Club came out (it was featured in the movie’s trailer and at the end of the film). Production-wise, I like this one more than any other Pixies album. It’s noisy, chaotic, the drums sound great, and it captures the energy of the band really well. One of my favorite tracks is “Something Against You,” and I’d read years ago that Albini recorded Black Francis’s vocals through an amp, which is why it keeps feedbacking throughout. Surfer Rosa is also one of the more consistent Pixies records; except for “Cactus” and “Tony’s Theme,” it’s one great and hectic song after the other. I also prefer the alternate version of “Gigantic” to the one on here- it’s a bit plodding. The vinyl of this sounds fantastic; much more bass & depth than on the digital versions. It just explodes across the room. Still a great record and one of my favs.