The Pixies’ new LP
displays impressive
passion, virtuosity
Courtesy 4AD Records
The Pixies “Surfer Rosa” 4AD
Records/Rough Trade
A bass thumps against the side
of your head. Fast, furious, fren
zied— knocking over the walls of
your room and any thing else stand
ing in the way. Suddenly an inde
finable banshee howl of guitar
screams out over top of everything
else, and... no, wait, that’s not the
guitar, that’s the vocals. The guitar
is the definable squailing howl
climbing up out of the rubble.
On “Surfer Rosa,” the Pixies
second album, they’ve perfected
that squealing sonic yowl of a style
they experimented with on their
first album. In other words, more
of the same, but this time it sounds
better.
Taking rhythm and melody to
guitar-flailing extremes, and es
chewing practically all else, the
Pixies, aided by the production of
Big Black's Steve Albini, have
created a sound that makes pop
explosions against the listener on
impact, but still leavesa rumbling,
guitar crunching effect. Black
Francis’ adenoidal lead vocals,
tangled with the shrill melodic
backing vocals of Mrs. John
Murphy (a.k.a. Kim), arc reminis
cent of the B-52’s Fred Schneider,
if only Schneider could warp him
self into this kind of extremely
agitated state. Joey Santiago’s
lead guitar lines climb over,
around and through the sonic wall
built up by Francis’ guitar,
Murphy’s bass and David
Lovering’s drums.
Lyrically as well, the Pixies fall
somewhere between B-52s’ silli
ness-with-a-purpose and Ra
moncs’ hard-driven juvenility.
"Oh my golly! Oh my golly
Rosa, oh oh ohh Rosa!
Rosa, oh oh ohh Rosa!
Yo soy playero pero no hay playa
/U__II-.# L__II../
v/r» rrijr 7. v/
fl/en perdida la Surfer Rosa
Oh my golly! Oh my golly!
La vida total es un porker id'
They printed that one on the
front cover. No doubt with a great
big knowing smirk. The kind of
smirk that comes from knowing
“all of life is a filthy act," and not
even caring how to spell it.
If there is anything resembling
a radio “hit" in the Pixies impres
sive repertoire, it’s “Gigantic.”
After softly reciting “Walked
there every day, he led me to a
shady place, what a gas it was,”
Mrs. John Murphy yelps out
“Gigantic, gigantic, a big big
love,” leading the less prurient
among us (me), to wonder if per
haps this song isn’t a tribute to the
exemplary anatomy of Mr. John
Murphy.
In any case, “Surfer Rosa” is an
impressive display of musician
ship, passion and virtuosity, pack
ing an enormous sonic wallop that
delves ... aw hell, I like it a lot.
Buy the damn thing.
— Geoff McMurtry
Parker’s new album
often redeeming
Graham Parker “The Mona
Lisa’s Sister” RCA Records -
Graham Parker has put out so
mucn irasn since nis masterpiece,
“Squeezing Out Sparks” that the
arrival of a new album is greeted a
little like the boy who cried wolf.
His audience has been stung
just a little too often to buy his
newest release, “The Mona Lisa’s
Sister” with no questions asked.
Still, there’s enough leftover
fire from past songs like “Discov
ering Japan" and “You Can’t Be
Too Strong” that it’s hard to rele
gate Parker to the English pub
rock junkheap. In short, it’s im
perative that Parker be given sec
ond, third, fourth and fifth
chances to redeem himself.
And, at least in a song-by-song
way, he does redeem himself.
Both Side One and Side Two
lead off with enough brimstone
and action to make you think even
Parker knows what a stodgy old
moron he’s been up to now. Both
“Don’t Let it Break You Down”
See RfeVlfeW 66ARB on 12
Theatre Arts professor
meets comedic challenges
HOFEDITZ from Page 10
though the play s are staged right after
the other, Hofeditz said that the actors
never get their lines confused since
they’re so different. He said the main
challenge is “to give each production
the time focus that it requires.”
Although Hofeditz has been a
member of the Actors Equity Asso
ciation, a professional actor’s union,
since 1978, this is UNL’s first season
under contract with it, he said. Essen
tially, he said the overall level of
professionalism has been heightened.
“TU__12-.____ .
i iiv auui^iivv wuii i a uiiiu
ence between equity and non-equity
actors,” Hofeditz said. “It’s a team
concept. I’m a firm believer that
you’re as good as the actors you’re
with.”
In an acting career spanning 20
years, Hofeditz said he has come to
like the interaction with the audience
the best.
“I like being a part of making an
audience laugh or cry,” he said. “It’s
important to me that theater entertain,
educate, surprise and make the audi
T-T
ence uncomfortable. Anything that
affects the audience is entertaining
the audience. Theater can do all of
those things at one time.”
He has also come to like the chal
lenges of comedy, he said. He said
that people often do not realize how
difficult comedic moments in plays
are.
“For comedy to truly work well,
there has to be as firnily a base of
honesty as in Hamlet,” Hofeditz said.
“And there arc specific challenges of
comic timing. In comedy the element
of audience involvement is height
ened. You’re on stage working in part
by what the audience is giving back to
you.”
Hofeditz plans to continue with
what he’s doing now. He said he
enjoys the best of two worlds: acting
and teaching.
“I want to be a part of helping to
make this a better department and
program,” he said. “The potential is
there for this to become a great de
partment. I want to help make it hap
pen.”
-—
^nrrvT^1
i REUNION i
i 16th & W Streets/On City Campus I
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Something new for Sundays
If you’re tired of
watching old re-runs
on television, Hidden
Valley has a fresh al
ternative for enter
tainment.
Paul Phillips will per
form live at
Hidden Valley Sun
day, July 24, from 8 to
12. Don't miss his ex
" ~ Hidden tyalleu
10501 Pinelake Rd. 483-2532
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And It s Us.
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