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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Marvelous Misery, 11 May 2008
Misery is the thing here and a finely articulated misery at that.
It's difficult to imagine anyone cracking a smile in the studio
during the recording of this, The Breeders, fourth album.
Jollity is not of course a prerequisite for fine music.
There is something quite admirable about the consistently po-faced
frown and pout managed here by Ms(s) Deal and Mr(s) Lopez and Medeles.
The band, none-the-less, often manage to achieve unintentional hilarity.
'Here No More' is the kind droll minor key country hoot Ms Welch would be proud to have written.
'Night Of Joy' a dour promise of anything but.
The stripped-down minimalism of 'Mountain Battles' a near masterpiece
in potential suicide provocation.
Uptempo numbers 'German Studies', 'Overglazed', 'Walk It Off' and the splendid 'Bang On'
shift the emotional pace slightly without losing the overall mood of morbibund gravitas.
The lilting guitar and melody of 'Regalame Esta Noche' almost offers some
near-romantic respite but somehow the music still manages to sound
as though it might be rising from an open grave.
A surefire hit for El Dia De Los Muertos.
'Spark' is perhaps however the true highpoint of this sustained exercise in depressive debauchery.
Taken together with the tick-tock, time-passing-slowly, rhythm of 'Istanbul'
I very nearly lost the will to live.
Highly recommended !
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Jumbled up, messed up, but pretty damn good!!, 10 April 2008
Six years on from 'Title TK', and a massive 15 years since 'Last Splash',I awaited this album with relish and I have to say I am not disappointed. After the first listen I wasn't 100% convinced, but after listening on, I feel that Kim, Kelley, Jose and Mando have really hit the spot with this one. Rough edged rockin' interspersed with a more tranquil melodic side. Having been a Breeders fan since their inception, this album confirmed that, ok, it maybe isn't on a par with Last Splash (although personally I think Title TK is their best work), it has been 6 years in the waiting and just like Frank Black/Black Francis they are evolving and changing evermore. Surely we can't expect after all this time for them to just drop in where they left off. Don't forget Kim & co are getting older, as am I, and I think this album has a sublime maturity to it,and has been worth the wait.
P.S. The Glasgow gig last night 08/04 was the best ever, all the favourites from 'Pod' onwards, and some stonkers from 'Mountain Battles'. I think they could gain new fans from this release, and I only hope it isn't 6 years till the next one.
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5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Uphill Battle, 9 April 2008
I wanted to like this album so much. I really did.
Couldn't wait to get my hands on it since its release was announced.
After a stonking opener that promises much with it's whirl of guitars and repeated refrain of 'I can feel it', I was left feeling very little at all. I'm a huge Breeders/Amps fan too, and while I wasn't demanding 'Last Splash 2', I certainly wasn't expecting a collection of uninspiring, often tuneless and meandering tracks. The Spanish song that Kelley sings is not beautiful or ironic enough to merit a place here ... and for the most part, this is the sound of a band that's lost its punch. The eponymous closer is just turgid.
In typical Breeders fashion, the tracks are short, but they're far from sweet. Where they used to be the masters (or mistresses) of leaving you wanting more, some of the tracks 'Mountain Battles' can make 2.5 minutes feel like hours.
There's a little respite with 'Walk it Off' and 'It's the Love', but there was a time when even these would struggle to make a Breeders B-side.
Breeders clearly haven't aged as well as label-mate Kristin Hersh.
For now I'll return to my copy of 'Learn to Sing Like a Star'.
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