Once in a while you are reminded of a great song. You put it on, and it blows you away, reminding you of how great music can actually be. It’s subjective, because we’ve all got our own lists of songs that light that fire in our hearts and bellies, but one at the top of my list is U-Mass, by The Pixies. The Pixies are still a great band, but in 1991, when they released their final studio album “Trompe le Monde” after a 5 year run together, they seemed somehow even better. The late 80’s and early 90’s were a weird and great time for music, a kind of last gasp before the “alternative” became the mainstream. Stalwarts of the dangerous and subversive fringe of rock & roll like Jane’s Addiction were calling it quits after beating their heads  and hearts against the wall of society for half a decade, despite Lollapalooza having hit the amphitheaters and coming out a huge success, while Nirvana, Mudhoney, and seemingly everyone else in Seattle were taking the baton for a few more years of legitimate thrashing around before the whole thing blew up in a sad mess of sanitized, canned angst, a la Weezer and Bush. On MTV you were likely to see a Soundgarden video bracketed by C+C Music Factory on one end and Color Me Badd on the other. It was a confusing time. No wonder so many of us young guys wore nail polish.

But in the midst of this chaos you had The Pixies. They were really kind of the perfect band for those of us who cringed at Top 40. None of them were cute, or dreamy, or cool…in fact they were all a bit weird. But they rocked uncontrollably on stage, with Black Francis leading the way, belting out lyrics that were intelligent, informed, catchy, funny, and got right to the heart of the angst that came out of growing up in a time when your first sexual experience happened under the threat of AIDS, Reagan had completely hosed everyone who wasn’t born wealthy, and the futures of young people seemed, for the first time in a long time, uncertain. Even Kurt Cobain, when asked about writing “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, famously said he was just trying to copy The Pixies. “U-Mass” for me is the song that encapsulates everything Kurt was trying to emulate. Loud, smart, catchy and radiant, it takes you for a ride in a way only the best songs will.

Like all good things, they didn’t last. They reformed in 2004 and still put on a good show, but for me the best part will always be the records. If you don’t have them, shame on you! No, just kidding, but you might want to check out “Death to The Pixies”, a compilation album put out in the late 90’s that has all of their hits in one spot, available on iTunes and on Amazon.

As a bonus, here’s the band performing the song live on 120 Minutes, sticking it to Dave Kendall, MTV, and everyone else in 3 quick minutes…