The Breeders

Remember The Pixies?? Un-freakin-believable. One of the best bands ever. I saw them live at their reunion tour at UMASS, where both a few of The Pixies and I went... only they dropped out and became icons for a generation and I graduated and am writing blogs... don't listen to your parents. I had to wear a helmet to the show because THEY BLEW MY FUCKING MIND. Well if you can't have The Pixies... and Frank Black's solo stuff sounds NOTHING like The Pixies... the next best thing is The Breeders. Kim Deal apparently is a fucking awesome song writer and Frank Black is a control freak and wouldn't let her write more Pixies songs (BAD MOVE DUDE) so after Surfer Rosa, Deal started her own band. In retrospect, Deal was probably just as good, if not a better song writer than Black.  I love everything they've done ... besides "Title TK" which, despite being recorded by the amazing Steve Albini, kinda sucked. "Pod" had a nice grungey sound... and was one of Kurt Kobain's favorite albums. The drummer from Slint added a nice touch to their overall dynamic. Their cover of "Happiness is a Warm Gun" is worth the money for the album alone. "Last Splash" although a bit more polished sounding at first glance, ended up being their most cohesive effort in my opinion. I'm not posting "TK" cause it's just not worth your time, trust me.... so on to their new album "Mountain Battles". It pretty much sounds like a entirely different band... probably because it is... and Deal has MOSTLY abandoned her grunge rock roots for a more minimalistic folksy sound. It doesn't pack the punch that their first two albums did. However, it's an interesting and NEEDED transition for a band that has conquered their post punk genre more than a decade and a half ago. 

Pod

Last Splash

Mountain Battles