Breeders – Mountain Battles

• 10th Apr 2008

Continuing where Title TK left off, Kim Deal and her Breeder buddies deliver another quality LP for their fans to relish.

Kicking off with an undeniably great sounding non-starter track in ‘Overglazed’, abundant with directionless energy and wondrous ethereal vocals, the album only truly begins to progress from ‘Bang On’ and its ‘Hey Mickey’ beats. The joyously crazed strumming amidst its buoyancy is particularly kickass.

Kim’s voice remains as deadpan and monotonous as the lyrics, making for a typical latter day Breeders affair. Floaty ‘Night of Joy’ follows, bringing along some fantastic subtle percussion, simplistic guitar and gently sung lyrics amidst the refrain it gives from their more commonplace GRRRounded sound.

And it doesn’t end there as ’We’re Gonna Rise’ strays little from its predecessor, though with swooning majestic enough to hypnotise a jackass from 69 yards, its hidden inner beauty is hard to ignore once it makes itself known. With its more upbeat construct, direct guitars, crashing drums and fantastic vocal layering, ‘German Studies’ steps it up a notch. (Listen for answers) And Duncan!

‘Spark’ ambles upon its understated way, serving up no real surprises as it does, other than Kim’s megaphonic vocal. Sneaking in before eerily escalating, a groovy ‘Istanbul’ cunningly steals the limelight from all that’s passed before it with 1 hell of a contrasting verse/chorus makeup. ‘Walk it off’ steals it right back again however, perhaps deservedly slinking itself about like it owns the very airspace within which it delightfully dwells.

‘Regalame Esta Noche’ adds an unexpected quirk with its Spanish? (I am not a linguist… I am a writer!) vocal and uncanny similarity to croon-worthy classic ‘You belong to me’. A more traditional ‘Here no More’ follows. Its enjoyable, forgivably repetitive lyrics are easily absorbed, creating an unrivalled sense of familiarity throughout it’s patiently delivered self.

‘No Way’ returns to the jangled, attitude heavy sound that we, by now, surely know and love. Relentless to the end, it’s followed by a less dirge drowned, even Feeder pop-esque ‘It’s the Love’. Seems like the perfect choice for a single, given its positive vibe, outrageously fun guitar solos, catchy chorus and toe tapping essence.

Closing with the sinister title track and the repressed urgency of its Ed Wood on Absinth sound, a calamitous yet sometimes clear cut vocal is the only thing to stand proud of its twisted musical fabric. God, don’t I sound pretentious (but it’s all true I tells ya!)

So, it’s great to hear fresh Breeders sounds and to have an array of 4AD memories flood back along with them, but the highlight of Mountain Battles throughout has to be its multi layered backing vocals which add a certain magical element to the otherwise unimaginative proceedings.

And that’s not to say that this LP sucks in any way, it’s unashamedly, predictably enjoyable, it’s Breeders, its all good.

Report back for my live review which will follow depending on just how much I drink at the Nottingham Trent Uni tonight!