The Breeders - 'Mountain Battles' (4AD) Released 07/04/08

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The Breeders have been around for years in various guises but remain perhaps best known for 1990‘s ‘Pod'. ‘Mountain Battles’ manages to combine a return to their roots with a real sense of musical departure, in fact the entire album is full of contradictions but it’s pulled off thanks to equal measures of musical maturity and a sense of fun.
 
Kim Deal presents a diverse body of material and the shared vocals with her twin Kelly make for a real sense of naturalism. From the emphatic ‘Overglazed’ it’s apparent that the production is far more polished than ‘Title TK’ but not overly so - it still manages to create a sense of intimacy. Even the despair or cold resignation in ’Bang On’ sounds good enough to dance to thanks to a funky beat. When the phrasing of the ‘g’ in missing anchors your last thought before sleep, you know the music has gotten under your skin.
 
The first planned release ‘We’re Gonna Rise’ is just the right side of chilled out before becoming depressive., it‘s a huge crawling spider of a song that optimistically builds a web in the sun. The harmonies wash over you and although it‘s not the most fun track on the album, it should sate the appetites of those who‘ve been waiting to since 2002. The Breeders ability to then change tack completely and become angular and playful in German isn’t as unsettling as it sounds. The track listing acts to reinforce the idea that you’d be a fool to try and pigeonhole the Deal sisters and their partners in crime Lopez and Medeles.
 
Their cover version of Roberto Cantrol’s ‘Regalame Esta Noche’ illustrates an ability to nod to a genre without sounding contrived. The smoky vocals combined with some beautifully elegant guitar by Steven Medina Hufsteter are quite simply stunning.
 
But ‘Night Of Joy’ has just as much charm while sounding a lot more like The Breeders we’re used to thanks to a lovely chord progression and an ethereal sense of longing. When Deal sings the line’Can’t stop the wave of sorrow’ you get the sense she really means it. But the bass keeps it all ticking along beautifully.
 
But for every gentle moment there’s one with attitude. You’d be off your cake if you tried to placate the alter ego in ‘Walk It Off’ a fuzzy scuzzy ballsy affair weighing in at just under 3 minutes. The lyric ‘I’m Mercury - I’ve been waiting for a message all night’ is bound feature in the death knell of many a relationship. It’s this keen understanding of word play that keeps ‘Mountain Battles’ vying for your attention like a precocious child.  The powerful imagery in ‘Spark’ is just as tangible as the farfisa organ based fun of ‘Istanbul’.
 
This album may be long overdue not only in terms of the gap between releases by The Breeders, but also as an example of how you can have a womb, play guitar and have the biggest set of balls without compromising on quality or trying to replicate anyone of the same ilk. Whether or not it would be a good idea to let Juliet Lewis get her hands on a copy of this is another thing entirely.