The Breeders - All Nerve

I got the new Breeders LP All Nerve today. A new release from The Breeders is always a cause for celebration. The ten year gap between this new album and its predecessor inevitably gives me expectations that cannot possibly be met. 2008's Mountain Battles is a very special record for me and it's hard to imagine anything surpassing it in my estimation but this is a very worthwhile followup. With the Kim Deal solo series in 2013 there was a missed opportunity for an excellent solo album or even a solid basis for a new Breeders LP but I'm glad that the tracks are available individually. For what it's worth I prefer the new band version of 'Walking with a Killer' on All Nerve to the earlier version she recorded as a solo release. I've given All Nerve a few listens and have formed a few opinions about the album.

It's an old fashioned album in the way that the songs sound better when placed together rather than in isolation. It's a grower. A lovely mixture of sweetness and melancholy with a very atmospheric sound, including a nice use of analogue synth on 'Space Woman'. 'Nervous Mary' is a perfect album opener, similar in feel and tempo to 'New Year' on Last Splash. I've always found the abstract lyrics in the Breeders work beautiful and fascinating. Current Standout tracks for me are 'Dawn: Making an Effort', 'Spacewoman' and 'MetaGoth'. The cover of the Amon Duul II song 'Archangel's Thunderbird' feels like the only out of place track on the record. In a similar fashion, their well regarded debut LP Pod featured a version of 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' which I always skip, although I seem to be in a minority in my dislike of that track. The covers were far better integrated on Mountain Battles.

It's nice to hear Josephine Wiggs (bass and vocals) and Jim MacPherson (drums) back on a Breeders record for the first time since 1993. Although touted as a reunion, it hasn't been complete silence from Kim Deal and the classic 1990s lineup over the last decade. There was the Fate to Fatal EP in 2009. 2013 saw an excellent 3 disc reissue of The Last Splash with a wealth of bonus tracks and a 20th anniversary tour. Having said that, it's a shame that Mando Lopez and Jose Medeles are no longer in the band's lineup. Another old collaborator has returned to the fold. Steve Albini is once again present in a producer/engineer role on a few tracks. Well done Steve!

I very much look forward to hearing them play these songs live in Leeds in May. I certainly hope it's not a ten year wait for the next album.