The Pixies
(SpinArt)Remember when compact discs would occasionally be a bargain over their vinyl counterpart? It wasn’t a common occurrence, but there were occasions, like when the Pixies seminal Surfer Rosa first came out on CD with its predecessor EP Come on Pilgrim included on the disc at no extra charge. Well, it didn’t take long for that “mistake” to be remedied, and with the release of the additional nine tracks that made up the so-called “purple tape'” sessions from which Pilgrim was culled, don’t expect them to be included free on anything, either. No, the tracks, most of which were re-recorded for later Pixies discs from Surfer Rosa to Trompe le Monde, are now available separately. Are the tracks worth the extra dough? Well, let’s put it this way: Would you rather hear “Down to the Well” off the murky Bossa Nova, or the same song recorded back during the Pixies’ prime? Are you averse to checking out a song previously unreleased from that early period (“Rock a My Soul”)? And would it kill you to sit through a pre-Doolittle, less-polished version of the pop gem “Here Comes Your Man”? I didn’t think so. Still, upon purchase of this 18-minute “epic,” you should immediately burn this material and your copies of Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa onto a single disc, because by themselves, they aren’t necessarily the Pixies’ strongest early tracks, but taken together, they’re clearly the first shots of a musical revolution. And because you can.
This article appears in July 12 • 2002.