Surfer Rosa
{{Short description|1988 studio album by Pixies}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Surfer Rosa
| type = studio
| artist = Pixies
| cover = SurferRosa.jpg
| border = yes
| alt =
| released = {{start date|1988|3|21}}{{cite magazine|publication-date=March 19, 1988|title=Music Week|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1988/MW-1988-03-19.pdf|magazine=Music Week|page=38|access-date=January 4, 2024}}
| recorded = November & December 1987
| studio =
- Downtown Recorders (Boston)
- Q Division (Somerville)Sisario, Ben. Doolittle 33⅓. Continuum, 2006. {{ISBN|0-8264-1774-4}}. p. 18
| genre = * Alternative rock
- indie rock
- art punk{{cite news |last1=Mervis |first1=Scott |title=Pixies will play Stage AE in September |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2021/06/08/Pixies-Stage-AE-Outdoors-in-September-Pittsburgh-tickets/stories/202106080123 |access-date=October 6, 2021 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=June 8, 2021 |quote=The Boston band debuted in 1988 with "Surfer Rosa," introducing its unique form of quiet-to-loud art-punk and, over the course of a few years, hit the college airwaves with such songs as "Gigantic," "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and "Here Comes Your Man."}}
- grunge{{cite magazine |url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000299reviews.html |title=Pixies – Bossanova |magazine=NME |date=August 11, 1990 |access-date=August 29, 2015 |last=Staunton |first=Terry |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001012063707/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000299reviews.html |archive-date=October 12, 2000 |url-status=dead|quote=Gil Norton's production leans towards the harsh garage grunge of 'Surfer Rosa', although the songs retain the strong melodies of 'Doolittle'. In many ways, 'Bossanova' is the composite Pixies LP, the most positive elements of its two predecessors blended together to make one of the most intriguing and listenable albums of the year.}}
| length = 34:07
| label = 4AD
| producer = Steve Albini
| prev_title = Come On Pilgrim
| prev_year = 1987
| next_title = Doolittle
| next_year = 1989
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Surfer Rosa
| type = studio
| single1 = Gigantic"/"River Euphrates
| single1date = August 22, 1988
}}
}}
Surfer Rosa is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in March 1988 on the British label 4AD.The Pixies' previous release, Come On Pilgrim, was an EP rather than a full album. It was produced by Steve Albini. Surfer Rosa contains many of the elements of Pixies' earlier output, including Spanish lyrics and references to Puerto Rico. It includes references to mutilation and voyeurism alongside experimental recording techniques and a distinctive drum sound.
As 4AD was an independent label, distribution in the United States was handled by British label Rough Trade Records; however, it failed to chart in either country. Only one single was released, a rerecorded version of "Gigantic", and reached number 93 on the UK Singles Chart. Surfer Rosa was rereleased in the US by Elektra Records in 1992, and in 2005 was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Surfer Rosa is often included on critics' lists of the best rock albums. Alternative rock artists including Billy Corgan and PJ Harvey have cited it as an inspiration; it was an influence on Nirvana's 1993 album In Utero, which Albini also produced.
Background
Before the release of Pixies' debut mini-album Come On Pilgrim in October 1987, Ivo Watts-Russell, head of 4AD, suggested they return to the studio to record a full-length album. The original plan was to record new material at Fort Apache Studios, where the band had produced The Purple Tape and Come On Pilgrim. However, due to differences between the band's manager Ken Goes and The Purple Tape producer Gary Smith, Pixies ended up looking for a new producer and recording studio. On the advice of a 4AD colleague, Watts-Russell looked to hire Steve Albini as the record's engineer and producer. Having sent a pre-release tape of Come On Pilgrim to Albini, Goes invited him to a Boston dinner party at drummer David Lovering's house a few weeks after Come On Pilgrim
Albini met the band that evening, and they discussed how the next record should sound and be recorded. Albini said that, "[the band and I] were in the studio the next day."Frank, Ganz, 2005. p. 75 Paul Q. Kolderie, who had worked at Fort Apache Studios with Smith, recommended the Boston recording studio Q Division to Albini.Frank, Ganz, 2005. p. 76 This created tension between Smith and Kolderie, and Kolderie later remarked that "Gary almost killed me for the suggestion, he thought I was scheming to get the project."Frank, Ganz, 2005. p. 77
Recording and production
Pixies entered Q Division in December 1987,The exact date that the recording of Surfer Rosa began is uncertain. booking ten working days of studio time in which to record the album.Frank, Josh; Ganz, Caryn. Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies. Virgin Books, 2005. {{ISBN|0-312-34007-9}}. p. 75 4AD allocated Pixies a budget of US$10,000, with the total costs amounting to about $18,000.Sisario, 2006. p. 46{{cite news |last1=Britt |first1=Bruce |title=Bands Bring Fresh Sound to the Big Time |work=Los Angeles Daily News |date=September 6, 1989 |page=L9}} Albini's producer's fee was US$1,500, and he received no royalties;Albini, Steve. [https://web.archive.org/web/20050109204418/http://userpages.umbc.edu/~sjohns11/albini/eyewitness.txt "They Don't Call Him the Martin Hannett of the '90s For Nothing."] Forced Exposure #17. 1991. Albini had a practice of refusing royalties from records he produces, viewing it as "an insult to the band."Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Little Brown and Company, 2001. {{ISBN|0-316-78753-1}}, p. 344 Along with Albini in the studio, Q Division's Jon Lupfer acted as studio assistant. The recording process took the entire booked period of ten working days to complete, with extra vocal mixes subsequently added in the studio.{{cite web|url=http://4ad.com/artists/pixies |title=Pixies Profile — Page 2 |access-date=April 6, 2007 |publisher=4AD |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606063822/http://www.4ad.com/pixies/profile/?page=3 |archive-date=June 6, 2011 }} Albini planned to mix the record "somewhere else", but according to Lupfer, "He was unhappy there with it."Frank, Ganz, 2005. p. 83
= Albini's recording techniques =
During Kim Deal's vocals takes during "Where Is My Mind?" and "Gigantic", Albini moved the equipment to record into a studio bathroom to achieve more "roomy" echo. John Murphy, Deal's then husband, said, "Albini didn't like the studio sound".Frank, Ganz, 2005. pp. 80–81 Albini later said that the record could have been completed in a week, but "we ended up trying more experimental stuff basically to kill time and see if anything good materialized." An example was "Something Against You", where Albini filtered Black Francis' voice through a guitar amp for "a totally ragged, vicious texture."{{cite web | url=http://aleceiffel.free.fr/joy.html | title=Pixies, by Joy Press | author=Press, Joy | access-date=April 15, 2007 | publisher=Option | archive-date=May 16, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516222946/http://aleceiffel.free.fr/joy.html | url-status=live }}
= Studio banter =
The recording of a conversation held between Francis and Albini can be heard at the end of "Oh My Golly!". Lupfer writes that "it was a concept he [Albini] was going for to get some studio banter." As Deal was leaving the studio to smoke a cigarette, she exclaimed "If anybody touches my stuff, I'll kill ya." Francis replied with "I'll kill you, you fucking die, if anybody touches my stuff". The track begins at this point, with Francis explaining the conversation to Albini, whose voice is not heard on the track.Francis, Black. Lyrics. "[http://dag.wieers.com/debaser/lyrics/Vamos2.php Vamos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611220122/http://dag.wieers.com/debaser/lyrics/Vamos2.php |date=2011-06-11 }}." Surfer Rosa. LP. 4AD 1988. Lupfer later admitted that Albini knew "perfectly well what was going on."Frank, Ganz, 2005. p. 79
"I'm Amazed" begins with Deal recounting a story in which one of her former teachers who was "into field hockey players" was discreetly fired. Francis finishes Deal's sentences, joking that her response to hearing of the teacher's activities was to try to join the team.Francis, Black. Lyrics. "[http://dag.wieers.com/debaser/lyrics/imamazed.php I'm Amazed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113133506/http://dag.wieers.com/debaser/lyrics/imamazed.php |date=2007-11-13 }}." Surfer Rosa. LP. 4AD 1988. Albini later observed the use of studio banter on Surfer Rosa: "It's on their record forever so I think now they are obliged to say that they're ok with it, but I honestly don't know that that idea would've ever come up if I hadn't done it. There are times when things like that are revealing and entertaining and I kind of felt it was a bit gimmicky on this record."Frank, Ganz, 2005. p. 80
Music
{{listen
| filename = SomethingAgainstYou.ogg
| title = "Something Against You"
| description = is the third track of Surfer Rosa. This sample contains part of the chorus, with Francis' distorted screaming and a repeated guitar rhythm prominent.
| format = Ogg
| filename2 = WhereIsMyMind.ogg
| title2 = "Where Is My Mind?"
| description2 = is the seventh track of Surfer Rosa. This sample contains the end of the third verse and part of the chorus. Santiago's erratic lead guitar plays a key part in the song's melody.
| format2 = Ogg
}}
Like Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa displays a mix of musical styles; pop guitar songs such as "Broken Face", "Break My Body", and "Brick Is Red" are featured alongside slower, more melodic tracks exemplified by "Where Is My Mind?". The album includes heavier material, and prominently features the band's trademark quiet-loud dynamic. Frontman and principal songwriter Black Francis wrote the material, the only exception being "Gigantic," which was co-written with Kim Deal. "Gigantic" is one of only two Pixies album tracks on which Deal sang lead vocals.
Surfer Rosa
Other unusual and offbeat subject matter is raised on the album. "Cactus" is narrated by a prison inmate who requests his girlfriend smear her dress with blood and mail it to him. "Gigantic" is about an illicit love affairSisario, 2006. p. 19 and borrows from the 1986 film Crimes of the Heart, in which a married woman falls in love with a teenager. Francis was inspired to write "Where Is My Mind?" after scuba diving in the Caribbean. He later said he had "this very small fish trying to chase me. I don't know why—I don't know too much about fish behavior."{{cite web | url=http://aleceiffel.free.fr/titles.html | title=Pixies Titles/Names | author1=Biel, Jean-Michel | author2=Gourraud, Christophe | publisher=Alec Eiffel | access-date=April 7, 2007 | archive-date=April 1, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401084546/http://aleceiffel.free.fr/titles.html | url-status=live }}
Release
Surfer Rosa was released in the UK by 4AD on March 21, 1988, entering the UK Indie Chart the following week. It spent 60 weeks in the chart, peaking at number 2.{{cite book |last=Lazell |first=Barry |title=Indie Hits 1980–1999 |year= 1997 |publisher=Cherry Red Books |isbn=0-9517206-9-4 }} Until August of that year it was only available in the U.S. as an import. Although the label held worldwide distribution rights to Pixies, they did not have access to a distributor outside the UK. When 4AD signed a distribution deal with Rough Trade's U.S. branch, the album was released on vinyl and cassette as part of the Surfer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim release. While Surfer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim has remained in print on CD in the UK, subsequent U.S. releases have seen the two released on separate CDs. These separate releases first appeared in January 1992, when Elektra Records first reissued the band's first two albums. After 4AD reacquired rights to the band's U.S. distribution, they released both as separate CDs. Surfer Rosa was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2005, 17 years after its original release.
"Gigantic" was the only single taken from Surfer Rosa. The track and its B-side, "River Euphrates", were rerecorded by Gil Norton at Blackwing Studios in London, early in May 1988.Sisario, 2006. p. 43 The remixed single was well met by critics.Frank, Ganz, 2005. p. 88 The single failed to sell, and spent just one week at number 93 on the UK Singles Chart.{{cite web|url=http://www.polyhex.com/music/chartruns/chartruns.php |title=UK Singles Chart |access-date=March 31, 2007 |publisher=PolyHex |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207165154/http://www.polyhex.com/music/chartruns/chartruns.php |archive-date=December 7, 2008 }} Despite the poor commercial performance of both Surfer Rosa and "Gigantic", Ivo Watts-Russell has said that the response to the album was "times five" compared with Come On Pilgrim.
Packaging
Surfer Rosa{{'}}s cover artwork features a photograph of a topless "friend of a friend" of the band, posing as a flamenco dancer, pitched against a wall which displays a crucifix and a torn poster. Simon Larbalestier, who contributed pictures to all Pixies album sleeves, decided to build the set because "we couldn't find the atmosphere we wanted naturally." According to Larbalestier, Black Francis came up with the idea for the cover as he wrote songs in his father's "topless Spanish bar"; Larbalestier added the crucifix and torn poster, and they "sort of loaded that with all the Catholicism."Frank, Ganz, 2005. p. 84 Commenting on the cover in 2005, Francis said, "I just hope people find it tasteful."Wolk, Douglas. "Pixies – Surfer Rosa". Spin. July 2005. The cover booklet expands on the theme, and features photographs of the flamenco dancer in several other poses; there are no song lyrics or written content, apart from album credits, in the booklet.
The booklet's photographs were taken in one day at a pub opposite the 4AD offices, because, according to Larbalestier, "it was one of the few places that had a raised stage". In a 1988 interview with Joy Press, Black Francis described the concept as referring to "a surfer girl," who "walks along the Beach of Piñones, has a surfboard, very beautiful." When questioned about the topless element, he replied, "For the first record, I told them I liked nudity. I like body lines—not necessarily something in bad taste, didn't even have to be female, just body lines ... like that Obsession ad, you know?" According to Melody Maker, the album was originally entitled "Gigantic" after Deal's song, but the band feared misinterpretation of the cover and changed it to "Surfer Rosa."{{cite web | url=http://aleceiffel.free.fr/titles.html | title=Pixies Titles/Names | access-date=April 15, 2007 | publisher=Alec Eiffel | archive-date=April 1, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401084546/http://aleceiffel.free.fr/titles.html | url-status=live }} The "name" of the cover woman, and the album title, comes from the "Oh My Golly!" lyric "Besando chichando con surfer rosa", which roughly translates to "Kissing, making love with Surfer Rosa".
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/surfer-rosa-mw0000196022|title=Surfer Rosa – Pixies|website=AllMusic|access-date=March 31, 2007|last=Phares|first=Heather|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220312031424/https://www.allmusic.com/album/surfer-rosa-mw0000196022|archive-date=March 12, 2022|url-status=live}}
| rev2 = Blender
| rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine|url=http://www.blender.com/guide/new/55353/surfer-rosa.html|title=Pixies: Surfer Rosa|magazine=Blender|location=New York|volume=7|issue=11|date=December 2008 – January 2009|access-date=September 5, 2015|last=Dolan|first=Jon|page=86|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421135822/http://www.blender.com/guide/new/55353/surfer-rosa.html|archive-date=April 21, 2009|url-status=unfit}}
| rev3 = Mojo
| rev3score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Perfectly Frank|magazine=Mojo|location=London|issue=310|date=September 2019|last=Cameron|first=Keith|page=39}}
| rev4 = NME
| rev4score = 9.5/10{{cite magazine|url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000380reviews.html|title=Surf Pixies: Must Buy!|magazine=NME|location=London|date=March 19, 1988|access-date=May 26, 2016|last=Sinker|first=Mark|page=31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000930034513/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000380reviews.html|archive-date=September 30, 2000|url-status=unfit}}
| rev5 = Pitchfork
| rev5score = 10/10{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19282-pixies-catalogue/|title=Pixies: Catalog|website=Pitchfork|date=April 25, 2014|access-date=April 25, 2014|last=Powell|first=Mike|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410013850/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19282-pixies-catalogue/|archive-date=April 10, 2022|url-status=live}}
| rev6 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev6score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite book|chapter=The Pixies|last=Wolk|first=Douglas|author-link=Douglas Wolk|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor1-link=Nathan Brackett|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|editor2-link=Christian Hoard|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/639 639–640]}}
| rev7 = Sounds
| rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Catch This Wave!|magazine=Sounds|location=London|date=March 19, 1988|last=Wilkinson|first=Roy|author-link=Roy Wilkinson}}
| rev8 = Spin
| rev8score = A+{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NhnqJL2C06oC&pg=PA73|title=Rock Music: A Pixies Discography|magazine=Spin|location=New York|volume=20|issue=9|date=September 2004|access-date=April 14, 2022|last=Milner|first=Greg|page=73}}
| rev9 = Spin Alternative Record Guide
| rev9score = 10/10{{cite book|chapter=Pixies|last=Weisbard|first=Eric|author-link=Eric Weisbard|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor1-first=Eric|editor2-last=Marks|editor2-first=Craig|publisher=Vintage Books|location=New York|year=1995|isbn=0-679-75574-8|pages=301–302}}
| rev10 = The Village Voice
| rev10score = B{{cite news|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv988-88.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|date=September 27, 1988|access-date=September 5, 2015|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914102223/https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv988-88.php|archive-date=September 14, 2015|url-status=live}}
}}
UK music press reviews of Surfer Rosa were generally positive. Q
At the end of 1988, Surfer Rosa was named one of the year's best albums on English critics' year-end lists. Independent music magazines Melody Maker and Sounds named Surfer Rosa as their album of the year; NME and Record Mirror placed the album 10th and 14th, respectively. A number of music magazines have since positioned Surfer Rosa as one of the quintessential alternative rock records of the 1980s. The album has appeared on several all-time best album lists, and is consistently placed as one of the best albums of the 1980s in any genre.{{CN|date=December 2023}}
As of 2015, sales in the United States have exceeded 705,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.{{Cite web|url=http://www.capradio.org/music/eclectic/2015/02/03/the-record-unfinished-business/|title=The Record: Unfinished Business|access-date=August 20, 2017|archive-date=August 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820115845/http://www.capradio.org/music/eclectic/2015/02/03/the-record-unfinished-business/|url-status=live}}
Legacy
Both Surfer Rosa and Steve Albini's production of the album have been influential on alternative rock, and on grunge in particular. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain cited Surfer Rosa as the basis for Nevermind
The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan described Surfer Rosa as "the one that made me go, 'holy shit'. It was so fresh. It rocked without being lame." Corgan was impressed by the album's drum sound, and acknowledged that The Smashing Pumpkins used to study the record for its technical elements.Frank, Ganz, 2005. p. 87 Nada Surf have also cited the album as an influence.{{Cite web |last=Ploeg |first=Theo |date=October 23, 2002 |title=Nada Surf: It is hard to not get cynical |url=https://www.kindamuzik.net/interview/nada-surf/nada-surf-it-is-hard-to-not-get-cynical/1960/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815164204/https://www.kindamuzik.net/interview/nada-surf/nada-surf-it-is-hard-to-not-get-cynical/1960/index.html |archive-date=August 15, 2022 |access-date=October 6, 2024 |website=kindamuzik.net |quote=We are influenced by Surfer Rosa [the Pixies' first full-length], Kinks, Byrds, and melodic guitar bands like Grandaddy, Built To Spill, and Guided By Voices."}} Musician PJ Harvey said that Surfer Rosa "blew my mind," and that she "immediately went to track down Steve Albini."Frank, Ganz, 2005. p. 120 Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, comparing the record to the later Pixies albums Bossanova and Trompe le Monde, said he thought that Albini's production "sounded way better than the other ones".Frank, Ganz, 2005. p. 85
Ivo Watts-Russell recalled: "I remember when I first heard Surfer Rosa thinking, 'I didn't know the Pixies could sound like The Fall.' That was my immediate reaction, in other words, incredibly raw." Gary Smith, who at the time was in a disagreement with the band, admitted he "was really happy that they had made such a forceful, aggressive, record."
In 1991, as Pixies were recording Trompe le Monde, Albini told the fan magazine Forced Exposure that Surfer Rosa was "a patchwork pinch loaf from a band who at their top dollar best are blandly entertaining college rock", and said of the band: "Their willingness to be 'guided' by their manager, their record company and their producers is unparalleled. Never have I seen four cows more anxious to be led around by their nose rings." In 2005, Albini apologized for the remarks, saying: "To this day I regret having done it. I don't think that I regarded the band as significantly as I should have."Frank, Ganz, 2005. p. 86 In 2023, he said Surfer Rosa was "a better record than I thought it was at the time".{{Cite web |last=Starkey |first=Arun |date=May 20, 2024 |title=Steve Albini said he was "ashamed" of Pixies backlash |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/steve-albini-criticising-pixies/ |access-date=May 28, 2024 |website=Far Out |language=en-US}}
In an interview for the Life of the Record podcast, Albini went on to say,“I wrote some rather glib and unflattering things about [the Pixies taking all of his suggestions without question] in a fan zine in the immediate aftermath of that record, and I’m ashamed of the way I treated them. They didn’t deserve that.”https://lifeoftherecord.com/#/pixies
=Accolades=
(*) designates unordered lists.
Track listing
All tracks written by Black Francis, except "Gigantic", written by Black Francis and Kim Deal.
{{Track list
|headline=Surfer Rosa track listing
|title1 = Bone Machine
|length1 = 3:02
|title2 = Break My Body
|length2 = 2:04
|title3 = Something Against You
|length3 = 1:47
|title4 = Broken Face
|length4 = 1:29
|title5 = Gigantic
|length5 = 3:54
|title6 = River Euphrates
|length6 = 2:31
|title7 = Where Is My Mind?
|length7 = 3:53
|title8 = Cactus
|length8 = 2:15
|title9 = Tony's Theme
|length9 = 1:51
|title10 = Oh My Golly!
|length10 = 2:32
|title11 = Vamos
|length11 = 4:21
|title12 = I'm Amazed
|length12 = 1:41
|title13 = Brick Is Red
|length13 = 2:00
|total_length = 33:21
}}
= Notes =
- For the Surfer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim release, the eight tracks of Come On Pilgrim appear after "Brick is Red".
- The untitled eleventh track consists of a quiet recording of conversation in the studio. It exists as a separate track on some CD releases but is not listed on the artwork. As such, after track 10, the track listing numbering on the artwork does not match actual tracks on those CDs.
- The album was re-mastered and released in 2007 as a Hybrid Super Audio CD disc by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab from recently discovered, first-generation analog original master tapes. The studio banter that makes up the untitled track on other releases is on the same track as "Oh My Golly!".
Personnel
All information taken from the CD release of Surfer Rosa.
;Pixies
- Black Francis – vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
- Kim Deal – bass, vocals, lead vocals on "Gigantic" (credited as Mrs. John Murphy)
- Joey Santiago – lead guitar
- David Lovering – drums
;Technical
- Steve Albini – production, audio engineering
- Simon Larbalestier, Vaughan Oliver – cover image, album booklet imagery
- Published by Rice 'n' Beans Music BMI
Certifications
{{certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for Surfer Rosa}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Surfer Rosa|type=album|artist=Pixies|relyear=1990|region=Canada|award=Gold|certyear=2005}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Surfer Rosa|type=album|artist=Pixies|relyear=1990|region=New Zealand|award=Gold|certyear=2025|source=radioscope|access-date=January 20, 2025}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Surfer Rosa|type=album|artist=Pixies|relyear=1990|certyear=1995|region=United Kingdom|award=Gold|note={{noitalic|for }} Surfer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim {{noitalic|1993 release}}|id=12162-1060-2}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Surfer Rosa|type=album|artist=Pixies|relyear=1988|certyear=2005|region=United States|award=Gold|salesamount=500,000^ / 705,000|refname="RIAA"|salesref={{cite web|url=http://www.capradio.org/music/eclectic/2015/02/03/the-record-unfinished-business/|publisher=Capital Public Radio|title=The Record: Unfinished Business|date=February 3, 2015|access-date=April 16, 2019|archive-date=April 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416140914/http://www.capradio.org/music/eclectic/2015/02/03/the-record-unfinished-business/|url-status=live}}}}
{{certification Table Bottom | nosales=true|streaming=true}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Sources
- Frank, Josh; Ganz, Caryn. "Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies". Virgin Books, 2005. {{ISBN|0-312-34007-9}}.
- Sisario, Ben. "Doolittle 33⅓." Continuum, 2006. {{ISBN|0-8264-1774-4}}.
External links
{{wikiquote|Surfer Rosa}}
- [https://archive.today/20130416131631/http://www.radio3net.ro/dbartists/supersearch/U3VyZmVyIFJvc2E=/Surfer%20Rosa Surfer Rosa] (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)
- [http://www.last.fm/music/Pixies/Surfer+Rosa Surfer Rosa] at Last.fm
{{Pixies}}
{{featured article}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surfer Rosa}}
Category:Albums produced by Steve Albini
Category:Elektra Records albums