The Pixies are really the bridge between REM and Nirvana in that they were influential in giving alternative music a crossover audience. You might not have heard any of their songs if you weren't playing close attention. Remember hearing "Where Is My Mind" from the Fight Club soundtrack? How about "Monkey Gone To Heaven"? "Velouria"? No? Do you live under a rock? I'm pretty sure other people are listening to them because they've been subject to two greatest hits LPs, a b-sides comp, a live at the BBC disc, a DVD, and a bunch of reissues in the past 5 years or so. Plus they've got a new song out and an internet download-only single. Anyway, Surfer Rosa is my favorite Pixies record because it has "Gigantic" (vox by Kim Deal of Breeders fame), "Where Is My Mind," the electrified mexicali freakout version of "Vamos," and a bunch of other songs I won't waste time naming. The songs are timeless. The genre defies a specific label any more specific than "alternative rock." There are touches of surf guitar, and Mexican folk music and the band has been name-checked as one of Kurt Cobain's favorites.It also has a topless woman on the cover art if that's an incentive for you to buy it. Support Pixies!