The Pixies' Doolittle (33 1/3)

The first thing to know about the 33 1/3 series is that since each book is written by a different author, each book will have its own tone, style, and in some cases, format. For example, the book about Radiohead's OK Computer is a dry analysis of the music theory behind the album, while the book for PJ Harvey's Rid of Me is actually short fiction. So it's important you read the description and reviews of each carefully before purchasing.Thankfully, the format for the Doolittle installment is more straight-forward than the examples I cite above: it's written in the basic long article style you'd expect to read in Spin or Rolling Stone. That's not very surprising since the author, Ben Sisario, is a regular contributor to these magazines. Through interviews with the band members (especially Charles Thompson and excluding Kim Deal, who refused to participate) and others involved, he quickly covers the formation of the band in 1986 and their early and quick success (in England, at least) with Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa, before moving on to the main subject.Not surprisingly, there is a lot here about Thompson's writing influences, especially his interests in surrealistic art (its influence is most notable on "Debaser", which begins "Got me a movie! Ha ha ha ho! Slicing up eyeballs! Ha ha ha ho!" after the Bunuel and Dali film `Un chien andalou') and religious & mythological storytelling, ("Ole Neptuna's only daughter" & "Then, God is seven!") which came to their greatest fruition on Doolittle. Sisario does a good job of getting the story on Thompson's oftentimes obscure, almost impressionistic lyrics. Sometimes, as Thompson admits, words came for no better reason than a rhyme pattern, yet they always seem to coalesce around the themes that interest him.Of course, there's also a good bit here on the music. Joey Santiago talks about his influences, especially the minimalist note painting of Wes Montgomery and the `Hendrix' chord. (E7 sharp-9, which Hendrix used to add just the right edge to the verse in `Purple Haze'. Santiago went up a step to F7 sharp-9 to create the menacing drone in chorus of `Tame') Sisario also touches on Lovering's assured and bombastic drumming and Deal's thumping bass, which anchored the music while the melodies flew by. Interviews with the producer, Gil Norton, show his genius for corralling the band, especially Thompson, to get the best album possible. (Though the Pixies were well-prepared for the sessions, and it's implied that the relative failure of their next two albums could be attributed to poor band preparation for them. Though how much of that was from the already-rising tensions anyway?)But it is the contrasts that make The Pixies, and especially Doolittle, so great: Deal's angelic voice as a counterpoint to Thompson's screams, the quietloudquietloud verse and chorus dynamic, the humor tinged lyrics of rape, incest, and violence. Sisario goes into great detail on the musical effects and meanings in a song by song breakdown after the main text, and I found this to be the most intriguing part of the book, required reading for anyone who loves the album. Thompson was the main songwriter and driving force of the band, but Sisario ably demonstrates how all the parts created a whole that pushed alternative rock to a place I would argue it has yet to return. (He talks of the odd paradox that the Pixies have influenced so many without creating a single band that sounds like them.)This book is a must for any Pixie fan. It's well-written, informative, and an all-too poignant reminder of the genius of a band that left us too soon.

If you love Pixies or alternative music at all you probably know this album. But there is a lot of really fascinating Info about Doolittle and Pixies in general. It’s a very readable piece

Ben Sisario's volume on the Pixies' classic 1989 album _Doolittle_ is my first experience of the 33 1/3 series, and it is just as good as I expected it to be. Each volume of the series is written by a different author, so unevenness is to be expected. It seems, however, that I began at a very good place.Numberless fans of the Pixies arrive at the band through Nirvana; to be more specific, through Kurt Cobain's famous comment that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was his attempt at ripping off the Pixies. I, for my part, cannot even claim this. It was my brother who read Kurt Cobain's comment somewhere, then told me that the Pixies were worth checking out. Before that, back when I was in college, someone had let me borrow _Doolittle_. The person described the album as "indie pop," which resulted in me carrying the CD in my backpack for months before I saw the person again and returned the CD to her, unlistened. If Sisario's book had been my introduction to the Pixies, the story would have been different.Fast-forward 12 years. I am now a Pixies fan and I own all of their studio albums. I may not consider _Doolittle_ their best album, but it is definitely their most accessible, and (as a result, perhaps) their most influential. It is also a highly original work. Part of the reason behind that, as Sisario explains in the book, is that _Doolittle_ was made by largely self-taught musicians who wanted to do something different, to stay away from clichés and, as the saying goes, carve their own path.Sisario's book displays an engaging style and enlightening information from those involved in the making of _Doolittle_. The author met with Black Francis, who provides most of the information, but also with David Lovering, Joey Santiago, and producer Gil Norton. Sisario gives a brief history of the band, but most of the content of the book is analytical. The volume explores the dark themes present in the album and the surrealist connection, which is crucial when it comes to appreciating the album's lyrics. The book consists of five chapters plus a concluding section (comprising more than one third of the book) in which Sisario explores each of the songs contained in _Doolittle_.I would say that for a series like 33 1/3 the key question is: does the book enhance the experience of listening to the album it describes? In this case, the answer is definitely yes.As I said above, this is the first 33 1/3 book I read, so I cannot compare it to other volumes in the series. I will definitely explore other titles, as this one has made a very good impression on me. I'm interested in the books on Nirvana's _In Utero_, Nine Inch Nails' _Pretty Hate Machine_, Michael Jackson's _Dangerous_, David Bowie's _Low_, The Rolling Stones' _Some Girls_, and the Ramones' debut album, among others. I will share my impressions here as soon as I read more of these.Thanks for reading, and enjoy the book!

This was the first in the 33 1/3 series that I have read, and I've been tempted to read many. It absolutely succeeded in that the reading of the back really changed the way I hear "Doolittle." Sisario's book acts as a remastering: Guitar parts become clearer; bass lines stand out; lyrics become understandable even as they purposely ebb and flow throughout Norton's mix. "Doolittle" has always been second to "Surfer Rosa" with me, but the book helped me understand the band, the song construction, and the making of "Doolittle" in a truly objective way.My only wish is that there would have been more authorial subjectivity and less reliance on interviews/past reviews. Too much reliance/trying to find literal truth on lyrical meaning (which trip up a lot of rock writing). However, after reading this I am looking to forward to reading more in the series. (Inspired to finally read this after having read Dwight Garner's glowing review in the NYTimes a week ago about Gina Arnold's homage to Liz Phair's "Exile in Guyville" Why I read "Doolittle" instead is unknown to me. "Exile" is next, or possibly "Murmur."

Music critic Ben Sisario takes a look at The Pixies' 1989 record Doolittle, a masterpiece of rock music from one of the most interesting and influential bands of all time. In just 120 pages, Sisario manages to introduce us to the band members, how the band was formed, their influences, how the album was recorded, the subsequent years to follow, their breakup, their legacy, and their reformation, as well as a thorough breakdown of each individual track - it's pretty impressive for a relatively short book.If you were wondering whether the songs had complex, deep meanings or Charles Thompson (aka Black Francis aka Frank Black, the lead singer/songwriter of the band) had a message to put out with his music - they don't and he doesn't. In fact when Sisario meets up with Thompson for a three day interview in Thompson's home in Oregon, very little is revealed about the album by Thompson (besides the fact that he doesn't own a copy of it!) leaving Sisario to deconstruct and explain the tracks as he sees them. This isn't actually a bad way of doing it given Sisario's loquaciousness and amount of time he's spent thinking about Doolittle, so that even if the band members themselves have little to contribute because they don't or they want to maintain the album's puzzling mystery, you at least get an interpretation of the album that's worth reading.So why doesn't Thompson or anyone have anything to say about the record? Thompson was very into surrealism and this quote from David Byrne pretty much sums up his ethos: "Stop making sense and have rhythm. Or have groove. Or rhyme. Or use some interesting imagery. Or be very convoluted about what you're trying to say, for the purpose of making it interesting for all of us." Thompson was in his early twenties with little life experience - what was he going to write about, dropping out of college, whining about some girl he broke up with? No, he chose to write about biblical imagery and fantastic nightmares - none of it meant anything (or did it?) but it was better than the alternative. And music wise, he and the band just put together what they thought sounded interesting which worked really well.There's actually very little of interest in the recording of the album with the band going in having rehearsed the songs and knocking it out quickly. Their producer Gil Norton elongated some of the songs and Monkey Gone To Heaven was a conscious stab at commercial success (which was moderately achieved) but otherwise it's a remarkably bland episode for such a mercurial record.If the recording sounds boring, I was surprised at how even more boring the rest of the band were like in person. Joey Santiago comes across as a pleasant but very dull man with a limited vocabulary ("thingie" is a frequent word used) while Dave Lovering, having given up music, turns out to be doing magic these days! Kim Deal was the only member who refused to talk to Sisario though her rocky relationship with Thompson is discussed.On its own, the recording of Doolittle is very uninteresting, even to fans, but the Thompson interviews are entertaining and funny at times. Sisario's illuminating interpretations of the songs are the highlight of the book, giving the reader the layers that Thompson, whether knowingly or not, gave to the album with his lyrics. You have to be a big fan of the Pixies (like me) to enjoy this book and I did find it an interesting read of an album I listened to over and over when in high school. I listened to it again right after reading this and it still sounded awesome, and I understood Thompson's approach to the album - write some cool lyrics, put it to the right chords, and, meaning or not, you've got music that'll live forever. Thompson truly achieved his surrealistic vision of art and Doolittle is a true rock masterpiece - if you love the album, this book is definitely worth a read.

Really good read. Obviously not a standard-size book, but that's the same for books in the rest of the series. Regardless, it was good fun to read and a must-buy for fans of the Pixies and of Doolittle.

As expected

Very small in size, more of a pocket book, so will be using as a stocking filler.

Hmmm. Disappointing. Don't like the author's tone, or his sneering at less cool bands: ok, Queen were never going to ring a hipster's cherries, but even R.E.M. get slated here for being "mainstream-ready". Much as I love the Pixies, I don't share this author's view of Black Francis's lyrics: sometimes surrealism is just an excuse for not having anything to say.