This article: Both Surfer Rosa and Steve Albini's production of the album have been influential on alternative rock, and on grunge in particular. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain cited Surfer Rosa as the basis for Nevermind's songwriting. When he first heard the album, Cobain discovered a template for the mix of heavy noise and pop he was aiming to achieve. He remarked in 1992 that he "heard songs off of Surfer Rosa that I'd written but threw out because I was too afraid to play them for anybody." Cobain hired Albini to produce Nirvana's 1993 album In Utero, primarily due to his contribution to Surfer Rosa. The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan described Surfer Rosa as "the one that made me go, 'holy shit'. It was so fresh. It rocked without being lame." Corgan was impressed by the album's drum sound, and acknowledged that The Smashing Pumpkins used to study the record for its technical elements. Musician PJ Harvey said that Surfer Rosa "blew my mind," and that she "immediately went to track down Steve Albini." Cobain listed Surfer Rosa as number 2 of the top 50 albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his journal in 1993.People connected with the band were impressed by the record. Ivo Watts-Russell recalled: "I remember when I first heard Surfer Rosa thinking, 'I didn't know the Pixies could sound like The Fall.' That was my immediate reaction, in other words, incredibly raw." Gary Smith, who at the time was in a disagreement with the band, admitted he "was really happy that they had made such a forceful, aggressive, record." Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, comparing the record to the later Pixies albums Bossanova and Trompe le Monde, said he thought that Steve Albini's production "sounded way better than the other ones."In 1991, as Pixies were recording Trompe le Monde, Albini described his impressions of Pixies during the recording of Surfer Rosa to the fan magazine Forced Exposure: "A patchwork pinch loaf from a band who at their top dollar best are blandly entertaining college rock. Their willingness to be 'guided'... contains an answer for the question: What is the first name of the person who Cobain hired to produce in Utero?, what is it ?
Steve