BREEDERS: nothing fishy about them
The last few years haven’t exactly been a laugh for The Breeders: The band was dropped from Warner music in 2004 and Kim Deal went to rehab against a backdrop of continuous line-up changes and fluctuating album sales.
But despite previous hiccups, The Breeders have managed to carve out a favourable and enduring reputation with fans and music critics a-like. Tonight, this is obvious as the Leadmill has attracted a large, noticeably older (and bald-headed) crowd.
As the headliners prepare to take the stage, the lights go down and the audience is plunged into darkness; a roar ascends from the floor and expectation is almost palpable. Immediately, the band rip into an old song by The Amps (Deal’s now defunct side-project): ‘Tipp City’ has a raw rampant discord sound sitting side by side with a pounding rhythm section. The excitement doesn’t stop there, with glorious slabs of grungy rock offset by the sweet harmonies created by Kim and twin sister Kelley.
Other tracks in the set recreate the low-tech, cassette-tape sound that has come to be associated with the band: ‘Bang On’ is the perfect example and in a live setting most certainly hit the nail on the head, so to speak.
It appears that The Breeders have an air of complete cool, whether performing unusual, low-key ballads or crashing and flailing to upbeat indie rock.
There seems to be little banter from the band throughout the night but smiles all round when the entire crowd is described by Deal as, “A bunch of iron mongers”. It seems the band is happy to be playing for such appreciative listeners. The old favourites, ‘Huffer’ and ‘Cannonball’ elicit a circle of leaping fan members at the front of the stage and practically send an electric jolt through the rest of the crowd.
It’s evident that Kim Deal is not afraid to shout and scream or make weird noises into the mic as songs reach mountainous rock climaxes, but doesn’t steal all the limelight tonight. Kelley sings, ‘I Just Wanna Get Along’ in pure rock ‘n’ roll fashion with an attitude that implies that you really wouldn’t NOT want to get along with her. What a classic performance with a well deserved mass of cheering and clapping at the end.
The highlight of the set was undoubtedly a much warranted encore – ‘Overheard’ was the best song of the night with Deal exclaiming, “I can feel it” like a call to arms against chaotic drums and a rabble of guitars. A strangely liberating experience and without doubt, a memorable one.
By Pippa Moore
