Bossanova

We Say...

Review by Eric Weisbard

By Bossanova, their third album, the Pixies were ready to become a major band. They never made it, but the pop effort has its rewards: a more layered, multi-track production; greater chime in the chime-to-scrape sonic ratio; lots of vowels for Black Francis to gargle ("Velouria," "Havalina," "Allison," etc.). If earlier Pixies set the stage for Nirvana, Bossanova predicted Smashing Pumpkins.

And Francis remains a wizard of songcraft: listen to how "The Happening" kicks off like a blues, only with an extra chunk before the rhyme arrives, puts in a bridge (working off a rhyme with the extra chunk) that is almost as delicious, melodically, as the album's great "Is She Weird." Then, on the repeat, he lets the bridge turn into a vamp that, parallel to the alien abduction theme of the lyric, absconds with the rest of the song, becoming a mini-epic of its own.

But here is where Black Francis' either sexist or quite possibly just rock star tendencies started to cost him. It's too bad that the formidably gifted Kim Deal doesn't sing louder on the hugely catchy "Dig For Fire," or get more of the spotlight in general. Is it any wonder that the commercial breakthrough that Francis craved turned out to be Deal's, when she fronted her own band, The Breeders?

They Say...

Review by Heather Phares, All Music Guide

When Bossanova arrived in 1990, it reflected the exhaustion the Pixies felt after Doolittle's enormous success: For the first time, the band seems to be running out of ideas. Tellingly, Kim Deal contributes no songs, having formed the Breeders to give her work an outlet; that summer, their debut Pod won a warmer response than Bossanova received. Arguably the Pixies' weakest album -- though Francis has said it's his favorite -- most of it finds the band in fine form. Gil Norton's spacious, reverb-heavy production makes the Pixies sound like a Martian bar band, which fits the cover of the Surftones' "Cecilia Ann" and the glorious, shimmering closer "Havalina" perfectly. On the theremin-driven "Velouria," science fiction imagery displaces Francis' penchant for fetishistic lyrics; next to the token kinky song "Down to the Well"'s tired sound, it's a refreshing change. The similarly cryptic "All Over the World" and alien abduction tale "The Happening" add to the sci-fi feel. Quirky pop songs like "Allison," a tribute to jazz cool-cat Mose Allison, and "Dig for Fire," Francis' self-professed Talking Heads homage, heighten Bossanova's playful, slightly off-kilter vibe, but rockers like "Hang Wire" and "Blown Away," fall flat. However, "Rock Music" is one of the group's most fiery outbursts, and "Is She Weird"'s chugging grind and sexy, funny lyrics make it a classic Pixies song. The band was so consistently amazing on their previous albums that when they released a slightly weaker one, critics and fans alike judged them too harshly. But on Bossanova's strongest moments, the Pixies explored their softer side and found different uses for their extreme dynamics. Like a straight-A student who suddenly receives a B+, Bossanova might have been a disappointment initially, but its (small) failings emphasize the strengths of the rest of the Pixies' work.