Coastal Fire Dept. - “Gouge Away”

We really wanted to hate this one. As soon as we saw that Coastal Fire Dept. was releasing a cover of Pixies’ “Gouge Away,” our knee-jerk reaction was to gatekeep the hell out of it. Who in their right minds would have the audacity to try and cover, note-for-note no less, a song from one of the most iconic indie bands that the world has ever seen? But… this thing completely kicks ass.

Any Pixies fan will surely recognize it out of the gate, though it is, of course, a more modern recording that infuses Coastal Fire Dept.’s personal flavor, as far as feel and production are concerned. There is, however, a moment of panic in the listener, as what would normally be Kim Deal’s vocal sections approach; nevertheless, through some sort of wizardry, they pull it off. We are not going to ask how, but it works very well and if you told us that Deal herself showed up to record her parts with these guys, we would probably believe you. On the other hand, it may also just be an overdubbed falsetto from Ollie Goddard, the band’s guitarist/vocalist. The world may never know.

Okay, so now that everyone knows how fantastic this track is, it’s also interesting to know why they’ve decided to cover it. The band adds: “We are often compared to Boston’s influential Pixies and really wanted to pay homage to them whilst putting our own spin on this iconic track from their classic album Doolittle.” Coastal Fire Dept. have assured us that there are three more singles to be released this year, along with an album. So if you like what you hear, stay tuned.

-TM