By Rigoberto Gutierrez

In Jr. high I wanted a mustache. The cool kids wore them with a vulnerable arrogance, not unlike the fade on their kneed-off jeans. Nirvana sucked! I never truly believed this but a firm animosity was obligated—the Pixies made hating mainstream radio comforting. Juxtaposed on a Rage Against the Machine mix tape “River Euphrates” and “Broken Face,” that’s all I really needed. Naturally I had the guy who gave me that tape make me a copy of the entire album (tape still reigns) but by then I was armed to the teeth with a keen understanding of the sheer power of music. It’s a movement, it’s 3rd grade flying machines, liberation, power and grace…it’s Surfer Rosa. (Shaving emphatically).

Firmly misconstrued guitars with morbidly profound lyrics, Surfer Rosa laid the groundwork for Hot Topic chain stores (unfortunately) and Kurt Cobain nostalgia mugs, in the process changing the landscapes of independent music. Beyond the inventive guitar work of Joey Santiago and the searing vocals of Francis and Kim, on Surfer Rosa the Pixies pick up were bands like the Velvet’s, the Fall, The Dream Syndicate and Sonic Youth—to a certain extant--left off. Because of modern music’s practicalities, invocations of romanticized ambition are marred by quotas, as if requiring a dual citizenship or a members only jacket.
In a perfect world this band/record would justify__________

A. Sound
B. Movement
C. Prevent Defense