Debaser

The opening track on Doolittle, 'Debaser' announces itself with Kim Deal's bass guitar pattern before Santiago's guitar riff and Black Francis's shouted vocal break into the first chorus. It is a noisy surf-punk song that builds from that initial bass line into something deliberately abrasive and propulsive. Black Francis sings of slicing eyeballs and groovy girls, anchoring the song's surreal imagery in a repeated refrain: "I am un chien andalusia", a nod to the Buñuel and Dalí film of the same name, with all its avant-garde provocation intact. The track became widely considered important in Pixies' crossover to the mainstream, a song that proved alternative rock could be both visceral and oddly catchy. 'Debaser' does exactly what its title suggests: it strips away polish and decorum, replacing them with distortion and momentum. It remains a perfect introduction to the band's particular alchemy of noise and pop sensibility.