The Breeders: Pod

Entry posted by lamstonite November 8, 2007

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The Breeders: Pod

I think Kim Deal may be the coolest person on earth. A while back i decided to refer to her as The Kim Deal after an argument about her and Kim Gordon (in the end we decided one was The Kim Deal and the other was The Kim Gordon but i'm digressing). If there was a Cool-Off between The Kim Deal (TKD for ease of typing) the Fonze and Johnny Depp, then TKD would walk it, probably with a few beers and a cackle.

I first heard The Breeders when Cannonball came out. Bouncy bouncy cannonball. They were instantly my best band and i learnt the Bass to the Last Splash album.

Naturally i wanted to hear more so i dug out their first album Pod.

Compared to Last Splash it was a world away. I think it was the 2nd time i'd heard Steve Albini's production (after PJ Harvey's Rid Of Me) and was blown away by its rawness. It sounds so minimal and 'Live', i love the way you can hear a cigarette being lit at the begining of Happiness Is A Warm Gun, the way you can hear a cough in the back ground. While i love Last Splash it is overblown and over produced. Pod was an instant favourite. It sounded like the recordings my band were making in our bedrooms.

The songs were so subtle and beautiful, with little melodies and contrasts staggering along together. I love the lazyness of Only In 3's the scream of raw power in Iris but most of all i love the odd-little-brother of a song Metal Man, recorded so low until the guitar/drum burst near the end, but the most beautiful harmony's with the accoustic guitars.

Its an album which flows so well, each song melding into the next and it is a rare beast in that it has no filler. Its got everything i like, Steve Albini's drum recording, wailing feedback, passioned screams, subtle harmony's, sex, beer, monsters and love.

Its even got Tanya Donnelly on it! The more i think about it the more i like it.

If was an album, i'd love to be like Pod