‘Gouge Away’: Kim Deal’s greatest bassline
Kim Deal is a musician for musicians, with her bass carving out steady runways and hypnotising rhythms for tunes to take flight. When she formed the Pixies in 1986, she was at the heart of their most memorable efforts. By avoiding overcomplications that might obscure the construction of her basslines, Deal has established herself as one of the very best, particularly within the realm of alternative music.
Between her efforts with Pixies, The Breeders, The Amps, and her solo work, Deal’s basslines are defined by restraint. Her playing is intentional before it is anything else, which makes her such an impressive player. Not all musicians can execute their craft without adding a bit of unnecessary flair to flaunt their knowledge and talent. However, Deal’s mastery comes through in her precision and unabashed confidence in playing only what she needs to.
When looking at her catalogue, it’s difficult to come to a definitive conclusion on her best work, but bassline one from ‘Gouge Away’ off the Pixies’ 1989 album, Doolittle, might just take top spot. It comes down to the simplicity and reliability she demonstrates, specifically in songs that cater more towards punk and rock sounds.
What makes ‘Gouge Away’ Deal’s greatest bassline is its immediate recognisability and subtle assertiveness. While the ‘Here Comes Your Man’ bassline is a close second, with the one from The Breeders’ ‘Cannonball’ following in quick succession, they both lose out to the song in discussion. ‘Gouge Away’ offers just enough strength in its noise to make it prominent and warrant attention, but not so much that it draws the entire focus of the song. Instead, it buzzes in this hypnotic, droning manner that is not too heavy and grounds the song. It generally blends with the other instrumentation, while remaining funky enough to stand out and hold its own against Black Francis’s vocals.
The track’s bassline acts as the blueprint for generating a pulse that gives every element of a song the space to become so sure of itself that no part of it is left wavering and insecure. In other words, her bassline gives the song the memorable, rhythmic foundation it requires, without becoming its defining characteristic. A good bassline can only be judged truly by how well it sets a song up for success from a metric standpoint. Thus, Deal’s playing on this track displays a measured repetitive warmth that supports the track and sets it up perfectly to riff and take on a decisive, edgy persona that’s never dull and stands the test of time.
This is a theme in Deal’s work, and why her musicianship is still lauded—her bass maintains an addictive pulse that creates a pocket for the other instruments to fall into and flourish. It should be noted that though she favours reservation, her work isn’t one-sided and instead full of subtle idiosyncrasies in her delivery. If you doubt Deal’s ability to maintain an intriguing sound, regard ‘Here Comes Your Man’, which offers distinct memorability, or ‘Where Is My Mind?’, which gives way to emotion. And then, there’s her playing on her own track ‘Biker Gone’, which depicts the breadth of her innovation. All these tunes are suggestive of her expertise, though ‘Gouge Away’ remains the perfect showcase of her cult status as a vital artist.
Because of the scope of her talent, Deal could easily overpower and head the songs she has worked on, but the charm of doing only what is essential proves the necessity of her artistry. Where she can take control and be extraordinary in her playing, and how she largely moderates herself, is admirable. Had she incorporated more intricacies and increased the agility required to play tracks like ‘Gouge Away’ or ‘Debaser’ with a more intense, quickened line—think along the lines of ‘Hysteria’ by Muse which requires incredible stamina to nail the track the way Chris Wolstenholme does—her work wouldn’t be as notable as it is. It’s not funky or absurd, but the control required to perform it flawlessly is what makes the bassline of ‘Gouge Away’ one of Kim Deal’s greatest.
