CD Reviews

The Breeders

Mountain Battles | 4AD

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | April 29, 2008

2.5 Stars

A big part of maintaining a lasting, fruitful relationship with the Breeders is acceptance. You’re not going to get too far pining for Josephine Wiggs or Tanya Donnelly or that drummer with the serious tube socks to show up again. By now it’s unrealistic to expect vestigial Pixies characteristics, and it’s downright unfair to demand the same feather-light rasp from Kim Deal’s chimney. In other words, there will be no future Pod, and Last Splash was just that. The uncertainty of sound and spirit that characterized 2002’s Title TK is still palpable — but that’s not to shortchange uncertainty. If anything, this time around, the Breeders sound more comfortable with no prescription (no mean jab intended); when Kim Deal diversifies her portfolio with the Spanish-sung “Regálame Esta Noche,” or the (you guessed it) German-sung “German Studies,” or the ecstatically repetitive opener, “Overglazed,” or the porchy hoedown of “Here No More,” it often amounts to silly, albeit highly satisfying, dabblings. It’s reasonable, given the variety of their back catalogue, to hope that the Breeders never commit to any given motif — but there’s a fine line between a fearless band testing several fresh approaches and a piecemeal album that has you longing for the glories of “Glorious.”

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