EP of the Week: Pixies' 'Doolittle 20th Anniversary Live Sampler"

During the 2004 reunion of the Pixies I somehow managed to miss every one of their reunion shows. It's a major flaw in my concert going life and one that I hope to make up for in two weeks when the band will be playing 5-shows of Doolittle in New York. Of course a few lucky people have already gotten to see the 20th Anniversary shows of one of the greatest albums of the last twenty years and the Pixies themselves have put out a four song EP to help hype their latest comeback.

The four songs here are just as you would expect them to be. The same passionate wail that marked their albums is found throughout every song. The band plays the songs with precision and emotion and it sounds like a lot of energy as well. Now everyone has their own personal faves this is a pretty solid collection of great moments from Doolittle. "Dancing the Manta Ray", "Monkey Gone To Heaven", "Crackity Jones", and "Gouge Away" are all great choices for this mini live album and really whose gonna complain about any of the songs the Pixies choose to include on something like this.

I'm really looking forward to finally seeing the band on my birthday in two weeks (thanks Rachael!) and if you're in any of the cities where they are playing you should probably do what you can (sell your soul) to get into the shows! Otherwise you'll have to settle for this 4-song EP which is a halfway decent parting gift, though definitely not as good as actually seeing them perform these songs.