Review

"Trompe Le Monde is hilarious," Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago told Spin for the magazine's extensive August, 2004, oral history of the band. "There's so much shredding on it!" That's one reason the band's 1991 album — their fifth and final during their (first) lifetime — stands out; the other is the production, which is the grandest of their career — and since the Pixies, particularly Black Francis, were born contrarians, they used that expansive aural canvas to capture their most monochromatically rip-roaring set ever. Or, as Francis declares in the meteoric "U-Mass," "Oh kiss my ass/ Oh let it rock." So they do, attacking the Jesus and Mary Chain's "Head On" with a white-heat adrenaline surge, but including a pause in the middle (thoughtful of you, guys); "Planet of Sound" starts nervous, with guitar scrapes punctuating the verse like an id ready to erupt, before the snarling chorus kicks in. "Space (I Believe In)" gives plenty of room to both Santiago's shredding and Francis' continuing UFO obsession (see also "Motorway to Roswell" and "Planet of Sound"). The only thing missing is Kim Deal, who writes nothing and sings little, concentrating on her bass parts. Still, the Pixies never made a bad album, and went out in style with this one.