Anyone who’s listened to the Pixies’ “Debaser” knows Black Francis sounds fairly deranged on that classic opener to 1989’s Doolittle — the lyrics from which, of course, this site derives its name. But give the isolated vocal track a listen, and, well, as Fluxblog’s Matthew Perpetua notes, the Pixies’ frontman “just sounds like a maniac screaming on the street.”
The IsolatedVocals account on Soundcloud posted the “Debaser” vocal track this week, along with a similar instrument-free recording of another Doolittle standout, ‘Hey.”
You can stream both below:
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Is that Black Francis screaming along to a brand-new Pixies song on Vine?
- Pixies set Los Angeles, New York club runs, debut second video for ‘Bagboy’
- Pixies join The Replacements at Riot Fest in Chicago — new lineup’s first U.S. date
- Pixies draft The Muffs’ Kim Shattuck to replace Kim Deal on ‘massive global tour’
- Pixies release new, Kim Deal-less song ‘Bagboy’ — download free MP3, watch video
- Pixies announce departure of bassist Kim Deal: ‘We wish her all the best’
Amazing… I remember, years ago, listening to Debaser on cassette and singing along to what I thought were the lyrics, until finally being able to look them up (thank you Internet in 1996) and realizing that I was “way” off.
Except now, even with the vocals isolated, I still think I’d have difficulty understanding what he was saying if I didn’t already know the words.