BY SARA SHERR The Breeders are my favorite band of the ’90s, back when cheerleading tomboys from Ohio roamed the Earth like alt-rock glamazons in flannel. Kim Deal’s terminal coolness is as undeniable as it is Midwestern friendly and gum-crackingly accessible. Everyone feels like they could pull it off. Together with her equally gum-crackingly cool sister Kelley and a revolving cast of band members that once included Throwing Muses/Belly’s Tanya Donnelly, their harmonies were tighter than your tightest black jeans, and their weird, wonderful guitar sounds made left-field hits that worked both as stoner jams and shimmying pop songs. The Breeders sound is so iconic that I wish someone would compile all the alt-grrrl imitators of the ’90s into a Nuggets-like compilation called “Pods.” Because they are not horribly prolific (stints in rehab and numerous line-up changes will do that to you), each Breeders release seems like a breath of fresh air. Mountain Battles, their first since 2002’s Title TK, is more moody, atmospheric and eclectic than their previous output, while hearkening back to the raw, horny, haunted sound of Pod. MORE
HEAR YE: Shocking Pinks
PITCHFORK: Beyond its high standard of quality, Shocking Pinks‘ first DFA release might seem a less obvious fit for the label. And not just because Harte’s project shares its name with Neil Young’s 1980s rockabilly sidemen. A 17-track, 45-minute compilation cherrypicked from Shocking Pinks’ two 2005 albums for New Zealand’s legendary Flying Nun imprint (Mathematical Warfare and Infinity Land), Shocking Pinks veers even further from early-2000s Brooklyn for an emotionally vulnerable highlight reel of scruffy Jesus and Mary Chain dream-pop, ecstatic My Bloody Valentine haze, droning C-86 confessionals, and bedroom New Order bass lines. Oh yeah, and cowbell. Nick Harte is the ex-drummer for the Brunettes, who made their promising Sub Pop debut earlier this year. Those Kiwi indie-poppers go for lavish studio orchestration, but Shocking Pinks adhere to the lo-fi principles of hugely influential Flying Nun bands the Clean and Tall Dwarfs. MORE
HEAR YE: Adam Green Sixes & Sevens
NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO! WHY? BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU!
HEAR YE: Music From The Motion Picture Juno
NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO! WHY? BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU!
HEAR YE: The Magnetic Fields Distortion
NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO! CLICK HERE FOR TOUR DATES
ANDRE WILLIAMS: Bacon Fat