MMM: Debaser – Pixies

Milo here.

It’s a Thursday and you know what that means; it’s MMM day. In fact, that’s wrong. I don’t give a shit about Thursdays and you shouldn’t either.

Today, we’re looking at alt rock pioneers Pixies and one of their landmark tracks, Debaser, from their 1989 release Doolittle. Check the video below:

Deviating from their famed “quiet-loud-quiet-LOUD” dynamic that influenced everyone from Nirvana to The Strokes to Rage Against The Machine to Foo Fighters, Pixies present us with a full-throttle catchy, kitschy, grungy alt rock tune that lacks little.

The bass that opens the song establishes the feelgood chord structure while also giving us an idea of the tempo we’re going at here, with the clashing guitars kicking in with steel-toed boots and, along with the cokehead drumming, immediately plunges the listener into a tornado of instrumental emphasis on MENTAL. Said guitars weave in and out under each other, with the backbone riff being hopped upon by these whining overheads, coupled with Kim’s etherally cool backing vocals.
On top of all this, Black Francis delves into the surface-level simple lyrics that reference 1929 art short Un Chien Andalou, serving up the same surrealist imagery as it’s inspiration. Despite this, there is also a childlike ambition in the vocals, with Francis’ wild howls countering the aforementioned backing — all coming together in a cacophony of AAAAhH.

Lots of hugs, kisses and lacerations

Milo.