The breeders

[ComfortablyNumb]

THE BREEDERS

The Breeders are an alternative rock band that formed in 1988 by Kim Deal of the Pixies and Throwing Muses' Tanya Donelly. They have experienced a number of line-up changes. The current line-up consists of Kim Deal (lead vocals and guitar), her twin sister Kelley Deal (guitar and backing vocals), Jose Medeles (drums and percussion), Mando Lopez (bass guitar) and Cheryl Lyndsey (guitar). Kim Deal has been the band's sole continual member.

The Breeders began when Kim Deal, bassist of the Pixies, began writing new material while the Pixies were on a post-Surfer Rosa tour of Europe with Throwing Muses. Neither band had plans for the short term so Deal discussed possible side-projects with Throwing Muses guitarist Tanya Donelly.

Their first album, Pod (1990), received critical acclaim but was not commercially successful. It has been credited by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain as being one of the most influential albums of his life. According to Cobain, "it’s an epic that will never let you forget your ex-girlfriend. The main reason I like [The Breeders] is for their songs, for the way they structure them, which is totally unique, very atmospheric. I wish Kim was allowed to write more songs for the Pixies, because "Gigantic" is the best Pixies song, and Kim wrote it."" - "Kurt Cobain of Nirvana Talks About the Records That Changed His Life". August 29, 1992.
Their most famous song is Cannonball.

I found out about this band actually when I was flipping through Cobain's Journals. I was reading his Top 50 Favorite albums and saw this on there, checked this band out and fell in love with them.

If you are a fan of the Pixies you should like them. Very cool and Cobain does hit the nail right on the head when describing their sound and song structures.

I highly recommend this band to anyone who is a fan of alternative/ indie and rock and good music in general.

Members
Kim Deal
Kelley Deal
Jose Medeles
Mando Lopez
Cheryl Lyndsey

Former members
Tanya Donelly
Josephine Wiggs
Jim MacPherson
Carrie Bradley
Richard Presley
Nate Farley
Britt Walford
Jon Mattock

Discography

Pod (1990)


Safari EP (1992)


Last Splash (1993)


Head to Toe EP (1994)


Title TK (2002)


Mountain Battles (2008)


Fate to Fatal EP (2009)


All the albums are great. I have not listen to Fate To Fatal or Head to Toe so I can not recommend those, but go with the ones in bold. Start of with Pod. That is their best.

Holy shit, I'm an idiot. I know the first song so I lied when I said I didn't know them. Haven't heard any of the other songs, though, I'll have to listen.

The lead singer seems pretty cool, like she is fun and just doesn't give a shit.

[Sweaty]

Great thread ComfortablyNumb and great write up, I remember these, didn't get Pod but purchased The Last Splash. I like them and still have The Last Splash on album but not got it on cd yet, I am sure it came with a free single initially but can't remember, Great band though.

[AboutAGirl]

One of my all-time favorites. The Breeders represent the ultimate in marriage between crunchy rockin' bar-chord riffs and sugary female pop. I just freakin' love them.

I can't stand Last Splash or Mountain Battles. Sounds like nails on a chalkboard... it's a travesty to take such a good band and smooth them over with that glitzy production. But Pod and Title TK...? Easily two of my favorite records of all-time. Almost so perfect it hurts. Those albums say everything that I ever could about my idyllic vision of what it means to be young and alive. They've also got this ridiculously cool sort of stoned groove thing going on, where the songs will just drift off into this ridiculous rhythm. Like on Iris. They're truly on par with Pixies.

Haven't been able to get my hands on the EPs. Would love to hear them. Anyway, this thread needs some of thiiiiis...



(^^ one of the few Mountain Battles songs I like. There's also one off of Last Splash I like)







Oh, and every single song on Pod is frickin' incredible.

[Aktivator]

I only have there 90's stuff which I love. I saw them last year(yikes was it two years ago?) and wasn't impressed. I also saw them in the 90's and they were amazing. Is Title TK worth getting?

[AboutAGirl]

I looked at some recent setlists and they looked pretty crappy. They had like 2 or 3 songs from Pod. Most of it was Last Splash.

Originally Posted by Aktivator Is Title TK worth getting?

IMO it's freaking incredible. Not as good as Pod, I'll admit. But really awesome none the less. But it's pretty raw and groovey, which turns a lot of people off. More hypnotic than catchy, really.

[AboutAGirl]

Oooooh I can't wait... I'm going to see the Breeders in Cleveland tomorrow! Should be a nice 6 hour car trip involved too, so even better. I go to so few concerts.... in fact, this must be only the 2nd big name non-classic rock artist I've seen live, the first being the great Immortal Technique. I'm so glad I get to see The Breeders, they're one of the few names on my concert bucket list!

I'm betting the setlist won't be too great, and will be heavy on material from their last 2 releases and Last Splash. Though as far as I'm aware this is their only scheduled date in the forseeable future or recent past so I'm wondering if it's some sort of special show. It will be so much fun to see them jam right in front of my eyes no matter what they play... and if I hear so much as a few songs from Pod and Title TK it'll be well worth it. Their mediocre stuff is mediocre but their good stuff is sooooooo good! Breeders are pretty low key these days too... I heard their record label dropped 'em after Title TK. Now they're back with 4AD like in the indie days! But anyway I'm wondering if I might get a chance to ...gasp.... meet Kim! That'd be incredible. I would totally be an overzealous asshatfan and mention how I had recorded with Steve and then ask her to go out with me.