Pixies - Bossanova - Vinyl Record

Bossanova was the Pixies' most straight-ahead rock album. But by their warped standards, it was still safely off the mainstream. Joey Santiago's body-slamming guitars, Kim Deal's measured, penetrating bass and David Lovering's elemental drums sounded denser and tougher than on their first two albums, but some things hadn't changed. Black Francis' surreal lyrics were still open to conjecture; even he has stated he doesn't entirely understand them. "Is She Weird" might be about a prostitute; "The Happening" might be about aliens landing in Las Vegas; "Down to the Well" is probably about sex. But content is almost incidental to these songs; what stands out is the beat that throbs like a hangover, the fever-dream atmospherics and the pelvis-grinding abandon.