REVIEW: Various Artists, Where is My Mind? A Tribute to
the Pixies
- Steve Kandell
There is no denying that Boston's late, lamented Pixies are a band worthy of tribute. Like the Velvet Underground, they were underappreciated during their far too brief career, only to become lauded posthumously as one of the most influential bands of the past twenty years. Of course, tribute is one thing; tribute albums are quite another.
Comprised of cover versions from small, modest college rock bands with a few bargain bin bound major label acts thrown in for good measure, there is nothing on this entertaining fifteen track collection to compare to the travesty of Hootie and the Blowfish's "Good Times, Bad Times" from the Led Zep tribute Encomium, or, God forbid, Third Eye Blind's "Train in Vain" on the new Clash tribute. Things get off to a shaky start with Eve 6's turgid version of Bossanova's "Allison," but for the most part, the bands capture the quirky, hypercharged energy that marked the best efforts of Joey Santiago, David Lovering, Kim Deal and The Artist Formerly Known as Black Francis. With two exceptions, the covers here are faithful, almost to the point of reverence. This is not to say that the cover versions are redundant. Perhaps the biggest testament to the Pixies' influence is that most of the bands on this record do not have to alter their own sound in the slightest in order to evoke the Pixies.
A blow-by blow breakdown:
1) "Allison" by Eve 6: Overly produced and crooned in a style that falls just short of camp, this track raises questions as to whether Eve 6 has even heard the band they are allegedly paying tribute to. Far and above the weakest cover on the collection, so an odd way to start off. But fear not, it gets better.
2) "Alec Eiffel" by The Get-Up Kids: A raucous, low-fi tear through this single from the Pixies' last album, which bucked modern rock conventional wisdom by being ten times harder and rawer than anything they ever put out before it.
3) "Velouria" by Weezer: Sounds like Weezer, and it also sounds like the Pixies, which just goes to prove what I've thought all along: Weezer sort of sounds like the Pixies.
4) "Monkey Gone to Heaven" by Far: Faithful to the point of nearly being indistinguishable from the original, save for the distorted spoken word vocals in the verses.
5) "Trompe Le Monde" by Braid: Like the Get-Up Kids, this is a frenetic selection from the swan song album of the same name. But the best part comes 1:41 into the song, with a hilarious line-by-line recital of Kim's famous "and there were rumors he was into field hockey players - bit from Surfer Rosa. Undoubtedly the album's high point.
6) "Wave of Mutilation" by Superdrag: By far the catchiest tune ever to have the word "mutilation" in its title. The Pixies often favored a slower, dirge-like version live, but this revved-up romp is more akin to the one on Doolittle.
7) "Manta Ray" by Teen Heroes: The most surprising thing about this song is not its baroque intro, but its selection. "Manta Ray" is a relatively obscure b-side, although it was one of the highlights of last year's Pixies at the BBC release. For the discerning listeners, there are a few references to other Pixies songs like "Dig for Fire" buried within.
8) "Tame" by Local H: Anything but. Originally on Doolittle.
9) "Gigantic" by Reel Big Fish: OK, this is the one I was dreading when I first saw the back cover. Primed for one of my all-time favorite songs done as bad faux-ska, I was ready for disappointment. But what I wasn't ready for was to hear it reinvented as kitschy, 80's-style synth pop, complete with electronic drums. The result is vaguely Weird Al-esque, and if this is meant as a tribute, then Reel Big Fish is cordially invited to give me the finger anytime. This is not to say that all of the covers need to be slavish reproductions, but considering that it is the only Kim Deal song represented here, something other than tossed-off novelty would have been nice.
10) "The Holiday Song" by The Siren Six: Reggae! But unlike the Reel Big Fish tune, the spirit of the original, from the Come on Pilgrim EP, remains intact.
11) "Where is My Mind?" by Nada Surf: An appropriately dreamy take on this Surfer Rosa classic from a band that I keep getting confused with Nerf Herder. Which one had that song about Sammy Hagar ruining Van Halen?
12) "Gouge Away" by Promise Ring: Another solid, note-by-note cover.
13) "Here Comes Your Man" by Samiam: Produced by Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, this peppy take holds up as a great reminder why the song was the closest thing the Pixies ever had to a radio hit.
14) "La, La, Love You" by Weston: A cute, slinky version of what has to be the most ridiculous, but possibly most infectious song the Pixies ever recorded.
15) "Caribou" by Sense Field: Dreamier and more sonically expansive than the Come on Pilgrim version, this closes the album on a far better note than the one it starts on. Considering that bassist Kim Deal is probably one of the most important and respected women in contemporary rock, it is odd that not a single female voice can be heard on this entire record. Granted, Kim's songwriting was discouraged by Black Francis just as it was starting to come into its own, which played no small part in the band's disintegration and the rise of Kim's Breeders. But if this is a tribute, credit should be given where due.
Perhaps the one point that a tribute album like this gets across most clearly is how sorely the Pixies are missed right now. For all of the bands that pay lip service to being influenced by the Pixies, none possess the offbeat charm that counteracted their patently venomous delivery. Catchy surf pop that just happened to be about aliens; blistering punk tunes that just happened to be in Spanish. There was a brief time, right around the release of the first Frank Black album and the first two Breeders albums, that the breakup looked like a blessing in disguise; that the sum of the band's parts might actually exceed the whole. But, as pop music limps into the 21st century -- with Mr. Black exiled to Spinart and Kim Deal suspiciously AWOL -- their absence is felt on the airwaves more resoundingly than their presence ever was. Maybe that's why Eve 6 gets to go first.
