4 keepers
keeper avg .286
Like most music fans my age my experience with The Breeders was limited to their almost-Top-40 hit single "Cannonball"****, and somewhat ridiculously I wasn't a fan. Upon reflection, certain quirky elements (mostly the bouncy, loose-y goose-y guitar hook) and the minimalist composition distracted me from elements of the song that I love: the bass hooks, punchy guitars, energetic breaks, and Kim Deal's exuberant vocals. Anyway, while arguably the album's best song, it doesn't fully represent their work as an expressive, frequently modest indie rock band. As opposed to the dour grunge of the day, the slow, relaxed "Invisible Man"**** has an indie rock rumble in the style of Poster Children, Sonic Youth, and Fugazi. While "No Aloha"**** is pleasing partially in its similarity to Pixies' "Velouria" (1990), it also features some of the best parts of Kim's main band. And "Divine Hammer"**** is a pretty, perfect slice of Midwest emo-indie power-pop (whether connected to that scene or not, she is an Ohio native).
So not sure if it was Kim Deal or Frank Black that drove the well-known Pixies quiet/loud/quiet dynamic but it's a significant component of several of the album's songs, such as "Do You Love Me Now?","Hag," and the mostly instrumental "Roi"; "Do You Love Me Now?" features some especially stunning vocals from the Deal sisters. All of these tracks and several more run on the slow side, with the languid, minimalist "Mad Lucas" being especially patience-testing. At the other end of the spectrum, instrumentals "S.O.S." and surf-rock "Flipside," and the droll, Guided By Voices-like "I Just Wanna Get Along" are at punk-y speed. The mid-tempo "Saints" and the country ditty "Drivin' on 9" fill in the corners, while the truncated "New Year," which feels like an introduction for "Cannonball," and reprise of "Roi," one of the album's less impressive tracks, bookend the album.
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