10 More Perfect Rock Albums Of The 80s With No Bad Songs

This was an album that had a marked impact on grunge during the early 1990s. Kurt Cobain cited Surfer Rosa as his main source of inspiration when writing Nevermind. Cobain was always afraid of writing songs that might be mistaken or interpreted as pop numbers. But, the Pixies showed him how to incorporate catchy and accessible melodies into down and dirty rock tracks, filled with heavy distortion and aggressive vocals.

The album plays with texture in a subtle but interesting way. During the recording process the band and producer Steve Albini experimented with a variety of techniques - an approach that was popular with alternative groups, constantly trying to lace a little more edge into their sound - the unconventional approach on this particular record included: recording vocal tracks in a bathroom, and using guitar amplifier to filter vocal takes through.

This is an album full of fuzzed out distortion, raw energy and a lo-fi aesthetic. At times it feels as though many of the track were recorded live, rather than in studio, but that all adds to the charm. The emotional core of the album comes in the form of Where Is My Mind. Slapped right in the middle of the record, it was the band's slowest and most delicate track, and at the same time, the heaviest.