The Breeders

The 90s were a difficult time for me when it came to music. My love of electronic music had comfortably sustained me from the late seventies and right through my university years but the introduction of 'dance' music in the late eighties threw me off my stride. Sure, there were a couple of bands with a dance element that I liked - Jesus Jones spring to mind - but it was only with the release of U2s 'Achtung, Baby' in 1991 that I began to embrace dance. And it didn't happen overnight, not by a long chalk.

But prior to this, it was my friend, Ash, who introduced me to an appreciation of the guitar during our university years and this led me back to my brother, who had always been a big fan of guitar bands, such as The Smiths and The Wedding Present. And it was him who recommended The Breeders' 'Last Splash' to me in '93. It became and remains one of my most loved albums. 

A few weeks ago, a Twitter friend of mine, announced she had tickets to see The Breeders playing in Manchester but couldn't go. And with a commendable middle finger up to the touts, she was willing to sell them at face value. Well, I couldn't resist - it was, after all, the original line up that played on 'Last Splash' - and this evening I went along to see them at the O2 Ritz.

Pretty much bang on time, the band took to the stage, the Deal twins looking absolutely delighted to be there, Jo Wiggs a little more severe although she undermined this throughout the gig with blasts of soap bubbles from an aerosol. 

And what a gig it was: by my reckoning there were eight tracks from 'Last Splash' plus The Pixies' 'Gigantic' (which was written by Kim Deal), so I was bloody delighted. The sound and playing were both excellent, particularly the rendition of 'Cannonball', which worked much better live than I expected. But the highpoint for me was the wonderful 'Do You Love Me Now?', which (sometimes) is my favourite track on the 'Last Splash' album. 

There's something about The Breeders that I can't quite put my finger on: maybe it's the unconventional structure of their songs; possibly Kim Deal's wonderful singing; it could be the fact that at times their music sounds like folk that's been through a grunge mangler; or possibly that, in the best possible way, it sounds like the central part of the music has been omitted from each song. Whatever it is, I would heartily recommend seeing them or buying yourself a copy of 'Last Splash'. Or both. 

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Reading: David McCourt's 'Total Rethink'