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Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 46996 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
The Breeders just released their best record ever, so they deserve their own thread. I'll touch briefly on their albums to this point and then try to sell you all on the marvelous All Nerve.
Pod (1990): "Can the gal from The Pixies make a great record on her own?" Yep, turns out she can. Their core sound was fully formed on their debut, with short songs, stripped down arrangements, and Kim Deal’s voice lilting through oddball lyrics, and a comical flirtation with hooks and melody. Just when a song threatens to turn into a potential radio hit, they avoid the easy hook, insert an ugly guitar solo, or just end the song altogether.
Last Splash (1993): Considered by most to be their strongest work, and for good reason. Their production and songwriting take a big step forward from Pod, with a fuller sound and more confident embrace of hooks. The 1-2 punch of "New Year" and "Cannonball" tells you everything you need to know about this record: Playful grunge-rock experimentation, middle-finger hooks, and some serious shredding can all be found. Years later, I still think it's a very strong album, but the under-hyped production keeps some of its best compositional moments from really taking off, and the decision to keep the Deals's voices lower in the mix comes off as an intentional avoidance at greater popularity.
(Hiatus): In which the Deal sisters wrestle with drug and alcohol addiction for about eight years.
Title TK (2002): Their return was both another step forward for their songwriting and production, and a frustrating exercise in being a Breeders fan. Drums are fuller, the aural space is again more stretched out and colored, and the Deals's voices are more front-and-center. But unless I've listened to this one recently, I always struggle to remember about half of what appears on the album, because a lot of it is fairly forgettable. The whole thing plays like a well-produced collection of demos.
Mountain Battles (2008): Talk about frustrating! This record offers a broad embrace of more diverse sounds -- the almost-epic bombast of "Overglazed," the minimalist and playful "Bang On" and "Istanbul," the more somber and measured "Night of Joy" and "We're Gonna Rise," and even the ridiculous Spanish-language "Regalame Esta Noche" all sit comfortably next to more mature takes on their standard-issue scuzz-pop of "German Studies" and "No Way." Too bad this record has one of the all-time worst mastering jobs I've ever heard. Imagine that The Breeders made their most mature record to date, and then the mastering engineer threw a sleeping bag over the speakers before you hit play.
Which brings us to...
All Nerve (2018): They finally make the record they've been threatening to make since 1990! With short songs, trademark spiky vocal tics, and a return to the pre-Mountain Battles sound of four people playing together in a room, it's very much a classic Breeders album. BUT! With their fullest, clearest production to date, lyrics that often paint heartbreaking pictures beneath their playful surfaces, actual guitar heroics, and most importantly, a grand embrace of big, epic choruses, they've made an album that combines the subversive, tiny garage-pop sensibilities of their first two records with the raw emotion of peak Pixies, Weezer (lots of choruses here remind me of Pinkerton), Hum, and every other band that knew how to execute the Nirvana-approved quiet/loud dynamics of mid-90s radio rock. The best part? Unlike Title TK and Mountain Battles, this plays as a cohesive album rather than a collection of songs. I'd say continued sobriety and that certain comfort in getting older have served this band very well, and I don't know what they offered Steve Albini and/or Greg? Calbi to deliver an album that didn't have the trademark flatness of their usual collaborations, but holy cow, that little bump on the top end of the frequency spectrum compliments this record perfectly.
"Nervous Mary" is cut from the same DNA as Pearl Jam's "Breakerfall," with a frantic back-beat to this brief story of a girl trying to escape a bad situation:
"All Nerve," "Spacewoman," and "Dawn: Making An Effort" are the true standouts, each one taking their time setting a mid-tempo scene before exploding into a chorus that fills your ears with color and your heart with real emotion, rather than that detached kind of emotion that has been their stock-in-trade for so long.
Other tracks like "MetaGoth" and "Skinhead #2" continue to advance the core Breeders sound with newfound clarity, and the stunning closer "Blues at the Acropolis" is the perfect reminder that this is a Breeders album, after all: Just as the song finally leaps into the abyss it's been leaning over for 2:30, the listener is gifted the brief release of a massive crescendo, that gets immediately cut short.
With this album, The Breeders have embraced both clarity of thought and clarity of production, to offer something that is cohesive, focused, fully-formed, and not afraid to wear its heart on its sleeve. Easily the best record of their career, and it boggles my mind that all the blogs are giving this album their version of a B. This is an A+ record by a band that has purposefully avoided swinging for the fences until now.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Mon August 07, 2023 2:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 11:15 pm Posts: 20771 Location: the bathroom
yeah, i'm really loving this album. i listened to it last week in the background while working, but didn't really pay too close attention. about halfway through so far.
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 46996 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
I've listened to it probably 30 times now, and it took a few spins to grow on me. At first I was like, "Oh, this new Breeders record is much better than the last couple." Then these little earworms starts finding their way into my psyche, and I'd be singing parts throughout the day. At 35 minutes long, it's easy to spin it a few times in a single day!
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 46996 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
yeah that's a great one. one of the best bass guitar sounds in recent memory. the only track i think is a little weak is Archangel's Thunderbird, but the breakdown at the end earns it some goodwill.
Joined: Tue September 24, 2013 5:56 pm Posts: 46996 Location: In the oatmeal aisle wearing a Shellac shirt
Lots of people claiming to "like" this album. I'm sorry, that's not the correct response. I'm going to tackle each song individually in the coming days, starting with the stellar opener "Nervous Mary."
Madrid (my dread?) in my nose Black lung in my hand West, by God, Virginia in my head Heartbeat, hustle and pound She's running down the wrong street Long beat, faster boy Nervous Mary had a nervous day Oxbow, strange glow She runs for the exit but she never got away Rogue goat Run but she never got away Hot road, run for it Nervous Mary had a nervous day Boss better than stolen I'll scream in the meadow 'til you're bold then Aheeyah, Aheeyah Run for your life, they're coming upon us Oxbow, strange glow She runs for the exit but she never got away Rogue goat Run but she's never far away Hot road, run for it Nervous Mary had a nervous day
I mentioned in my original post that this song reminded me of Breakerfall, and I wonder if anyone else can hear it? It's a sharp, spunky little number, equal parts tension and joy. I love the "Rogue goat" hook, which, when the other lyrics are taken into consideration, raises the possibility that this song is not about a woman trying to escape a situation, but perhaps it's about a goat running away from a farm.
The girls sound awesome, the little guitar fills are great fun, and that back beat is played with great restraint. I love the descending chords just prior to the first "Rogue goat," and the bass slide that follows provides a nice little release from that tension.
More than anything, I love how this song sets the tone for the album that follows. It sounds very much like a band in a room, and the immediate sense of dread mixed with playfulness continues throughout the entire record. It's a doom-laden song that's catchy as fuck.
Good morning! Consider I Always struggle with the right word Meow meow meow meow meow As a sinner I unlock Nothing but me Sinner I Sinner I Sinner I Oh oh, oh oh Mother wants to hold me down Oh oh, oh oh Wait in the car I got business Forget the sun Time to get off, taking a nap 'Cause strategies are for punks Mother wants to hold me down Mother wants to hold me down Gonna chase the stars Making a map Scraping off the sky Just to fall back Sinner I Sinner I Sinner I Oh oh, oh oh Oh oh, oh oh Oh oh, oh oh
The album's second track is the most familiar Breeders song on the album. They've written songs just like this several times before, but that doesn't diminish it's fun in the slightest.
Perhaps more than any other song on the album, this track is a great example of Kim Deal's powers as a vocalist. Many singers will spend the entire length of a song (or sometimes longer) trying to develop a character that the listener can connect with. But Kim is able to offer a range of characters in a single 2-minute song, by coupling some short, clever lyrics with her unique singing style:
I can't help but think of Kim's continued sobriety when she opens with a clear-eyed "Good morning!" Seconds later she's someone more playful and irreverent, with that great "meow meow meow meow meow" bit. Next she embodies a pissed off teenager, with her teeth clenched, hissing her delivery of "Mother wants to hold me down." And the song's high point comes when, in just eight syllables, she creates a fully-fleshed out character with the amazing line "Wait in the car! I got biz-ness!" With those few words, I can picture some sassy broad telling her keep to stay put while she takes care of shit.
I have no idea what this song is about; my best guess is that it's painting a pastiche sort of power struggle between a teenager and her guardian -- or perhaps it's about a pet and her guardian? -- but I really have no clue. What blows my mind is that despite the oblique approach the song takes to its storytelling, it's still remarkably fun, super catchy, and the lyrics all hit their mark despite their apparent disconnect (Kim even seems to acknowledge this disconnect with the line "Strategy's for punks!"). I can't think of any other band that could deliver this song with such panache.
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I've listened to it probably 30 times now, and it took a few spins to grow on me. At first I was like, "Oh, this new Breeders record is much better than the last couple." Then these little earworms starts finding their way into my psyche, and I'd be singing parts throughout the day. At 35 minutes long, it's easy to spin it a few times in a single day!
