(Single from album, "Doolittle")
Strangely, "Debaser" was released as a single almost a decade after being originally recorded, 4 years of which saw the Pixies disbanded after tensions came to a head in 1992, with a further 7 to pass before the first reunion gig. With some research it becomes somewhat clearer as to why this phenomenal alternative rock headbanger was dug up for commercial consumption at the climax of the '90s brit-pop craze:
1.) the new Pixies greatest hits album needed promoting, and also...
2.) it's such an awesome song that someone must have just realised how much of a total sin it would have been notto release it.
Let's put it this way; if you still don't know whether or not to read on, after the first listen this song became one of myall time favourites. Can you not see how excited I am just by the amount of italics I'm using?!
The song opens with a grinding and memorable bass riff, before moving speedily into a whirlwind of sounds, too heavy to be jangly, to jangly to be heavy. It's like Radiohead but much happier - if that makes any sense. The electric guitar riff, like the bass opening, is hooky and unforgettable, and the melody is sublime; there's a very punky feel (largely thanks to the drums) but there's refinement and polish nonetheless, with a comparably conservative tambourine hidden in the mix also.
As for the vocal, well that is the definition of punk; not screaming, not singing - kind of...well...I don't know....it's got the tortured tone and pain of Bob Dylan or Brett Anderson, the lyrical oddity of Bowie or Morrissey and the volume and eccentricity of Billie Joe Armstrong. Overall though, I'd have to say that Black Francis sounds most like Hugh Cornwall, original lead singer with The Stranglers.
The words are great; from the opening screech, I was hooked; 'got me a movie I want you to know, slicing up eyeballs I want you to know'. Slicing up eyeballs? Profound. My favourite flavour of poetry. Apparently it's based on a Dalí film; if so, then great. If not, I don't care - I'm too busy laughing about the fact that a song with that opening line got to #23 in the UK charts when Oasis were doing their Beatles thing and Blur were dancing round, shouting like loose asylum inhabitants.
True, the Pixies had long since passed by the time of the release of this, the opening track from the seminal alternative rock masterpiece "Doolittle", as a single. Regardless, it's funky, electric, speedy, punk-rock vibe is to be admired and oscillated wildly with; it's bizarrely uplifting, carries an oddly intricate background sonic and, overall, is really good fun.
★★★★★
Versions of “Debaser”
Album/Single Version - 2:53
Live Version - 2:45
Demo (7") Version - 2:59