1989 was a seismic year in every which way, old orders collapsed across Europe, revolutions were in the air and on the songsheets, the second "summer of love" was in full swing in the UK complete with soaring temperatures and music abounding from all styles at a level arguably not reached since.
The "indie" guitar rock labels were busy trying their best to outsmart the major players and came very close to doing so. From across the pond, Pixies had allready made an impact with their first record but with Doolittle came the breakthrough.
Driven by Kim Deal's basslines that can ony be described as simply terrific, they mastered the "quiet/loud" sound with alternative, unnervingly brilliant songwriting, producing one of the first enviromentally conscious anthems with " Monkey Gone to Heaven "
"- And if the ground's not cold, everything is gonna burnWe'll all take turns, I'll get mine too"
The album would influence more famous "grunge" acts that were to spawn in the early 90's but personally I feel the depth and unique personality of this record remains fresh and somewhat untouched by time.
Barney Pree
