By Benjamin Haslem

In an earlier life I was pretty damn obsessed with music. I hosted an Australian music show on Sydney’s 2SER FM, was music editor of Honi Soit and attended inner-city rock gigs most weeks for years (don’t my ears know it). I’ve listened to hundreds of albums in my life.

But one of my fondest musical memories is pulling a vinyl LP out of its sleeve and placing it on the turntable in by college room at Sydney Uni in 1989 and being gob smacked from first groove to last.

The record was Doolittle, the band Boston’s Pixies (pictured). All these years later, it hasn’t lost any of its magic. Nor its predecessors, Come On Pilgrim (EP) and Surfer Rosa or its successors Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde.

A 2003 poll of NME writers ranked Doolittle as the second greatest album of all time.

The Pixies never toured Australia and broke up in 1993. In 2004 the band reformed.

Tomorrow night they are headlining the V-Festival here in Sydney. My wife and I will be there. I can’t wait. I haven’t felt this excited about a gig since heading off the see R.E.M. for the first time in 1989.

For a few hours I’ll be 20 again. Our two sons, 4 and 14 months, will be with the Grandparents.

Listen to a sample of my favourite Pixies song here. There’s a better grab in the iTunes Store.

UPDATE: They were incredible. Sounded as good as the albums and their vocals as fine as the late 80s. If you’re a fan and you can catch one of the rest of their Aussie shows then do anything you can to get a ticket. BTW, Beck in support was brilliant too. As was Jarvis Cocker. A great night all round.