The Breeders
Title TK
Elektra Records
What do you know? It's been almost 10 years since their last album
Last Splash. It was 1993 when the unforgettable video for "Cannonball" played constantly on MTV. Life was good then for both rock enthusiasts and
The Breeders. While today many are skeptical due to the long absence and the rumors of dysfunction that perpetually revolve around the
Deal sisters, the
Breeders have delivered a stellar new album.
Kim and
Kelley Deal recruited three new band members to help them refine their strange arrangements, minimal instrumentation, and deranged lyrics. What they created was an eccentric beauty of fractured pop called
Title TK. Most of the album was recorded in late 2001 with
Steve Albini, though a few songs were recorded elsewhere, as long ago as 1999.
Albini did a good job capturing the stripped-down melodies in beautifully simple recordings in keeping with his no-nonsense analog-only recording style. Reports during the sessions claimed that the band members, especially
Kim, wanted to experiment with a ridiculous array of guitars, amplifiers, structure ideas, whatever -- exploring myriad options for each song.
Pixies fans will be elated to hear the similarities to
Kim's old group throughout the album; the bass line in the opening track "Little Fury," the guitars in "Son of Three," the drums in "London," and the vocal lines in nearly all of the songs hearken to the off-kilter
Surfer Rosa-era
Pixies. Without a doubt, the
Deal sisters have put together another classic. Hopefully the record company can make folks pay attention this unique and raw piece of work. If
The White Stripes and
The Strokes can gain success with relatively rudimentary production, there is indeed hope for
The Breeders that they will get the attention they deserve, a decade after they were last seen jaunting around on the Lollapalooza stage.
Justin Sinkovich
last updated:
05/23/02
