Review of Trompe Le Monde (The Pixies)

Trompe Le Monde is the fourth and final release by the Pixies. The band consists of Black Francis (Vocals, Guitar), Joey Santiago (Lead Guitar), David Lovering (Drums), Kim Deal (Bass, Vocals), and Eric Drew Feldman (Keyboard, Piano). The album is space-themed, referencing places like Roswell NM and the Olympus Mons (the largest mountain in our solar system, located on Mars). It's a little further out there than the rest of the work done by the band, and that's saying something about the Pixies.

Personally, I love how this album seems to take the styles of Doolittle and Bossanova and push them to the limit in this album. Everything is just a little sharper, from the guitars, to the production, to the lyrics and singing. I'm taken by soaring songs like "Bird Dream Of The Olympus Mons", and "Motorway to Roswell", which inspire in me the feeling of something bigger than our little home. Beyond that, though, the music rocks, and I mean really rocks. It's a little weird, but it's definitely weird in a good way. Songs like "Distance Equals Rate Times Time", "U-Mass" and "Trompe Le Monde" start hitting quickly and don't let up. When combined with the more introspective songs mentioned earlier, the mix is good enough to fall in love with.

There's not much in the negative on this album, but a couple songs -- "Planet Of Sound", I'm looking at you -- just fall flat for me. Sometimes it's a little too much in the way of screaming, sometimes the music is just a little boring: the exact reasons vary from song to song, but these few songs are definitely in the minority.

All told, I really, really like this album, and I think as far as Pixies albums go, it's fairly underrated and underlistened. I hope to change that. If you like the Pixies already, you ought to love this album. So give it a shot already!