NYLON - June 2008 - (Page 119) BIG DEAL Kim and Kelley Deal are sitting at a metal table outside of a not-very-comfortable-looking Comfort Inn in Austin, Texas, next to a small, glinting swimming pool. They’re finishing each other’s sentences, like sisters do, but in a more extreme, sped-up fashion; they’re like Frick and Frack, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum…two parts of a decidedly odd whole. They speak as if every word is just dawning on them; their voices breathless and whispery, like they are totally in awe of everything. Which is kind of the way their records sound, too: capricious and sun-struck and otherworldly. The twins first played together as the Breeders (at local truck stops in Dayton, Ohio) when they were in high school, and it’s easy to see why, out of all the bands they’ve been in—the Pixies, the Amps, the Kelley Deal 6000—they always come back to each other. It’s been seven years since the last Breeders’ album, Title TK (there was a nine-year gap between that and their previous, mega-hit album, Last Splash), but Kim says she “didn’t pull a Brian Wilson or anything”—there were just a lot of interruptions, primarily the much-ballyhooed Pixies reunion which kept her on the road for most of 2004 and 2005 (of the rumored second round, she says: “I think we’re gonna do Surfer Rosa. Wouldn’t that be cool? But I don’t know Charles can be unpredictable. He’s a bit of a drama queen”). She also notes that the new album’s title, Mountain Battles, is not—as has been assumed, due to the seven-year gestation period—a reference to the Breeders’ struggle making it: “Our mom has Alzheimer’s,” she says, “so she’s always bringing out the photo book we just saw 10 minutes ago, asking ‘Did you see this?’ And my family are all hillbillies from West Virginia, so the pictures are of mountains and There’s never been another band quite like the Breeders. And now they’re back, ready to prove it once again. By April Long. Photographed by Chris Glass coal miners. Then my mom’s battling with her mind…” her voice drops ominously. ”And the biggest battles are with the mind, aren’t they?” “A lot of people in the army would say, “Wait till there’s a gun pointed at you,” Kelley chimes in, “then tell me about how that battle is with your mind.” And both sisters burst into wild, cackling laughter. The album is classic Breeders, characterized by dizzy, dozy, looping riffs, and Kim and Kelley’s sweet, little-girl vocals. It’s gorgeous and varied, from the fever-dream atmosphere of “Overglazed” to the folky “Here No More” to the herky-jerk “Bang On” to the beautiful sungin-Spanish-by-Kelley “Regalme Esta Noche.” The last is a cover of a ballad Kim first heard on a jukebox in a dive bar in East L.A., where she used to hang out because it was the only place she could smoke (“I’ve got to stop smoking, because it’s expensive, and,” she jabs a finger at Kelley, “it irritates her.” Kelley: “No, it doesn’t, I just think it makes you look dumb as hell”). True to her old-school indie roots, Kim insisted that they record on analog equipment (“In the late ’90s,” she laments, “ProTools swept through New York City like crack did”); they worked with revered producer Steve Albini, who produced the Breeders’ first album, Pod, in 1989; and they returned to 4AD, their original label (Title TK came out on Warners). “Suckers!” Kim says, laughing. “But I can call Chris, the president of 4AD, right now. I have his cell phone number. And he has to take my fucking call. You can’t do that at Warners.” Albums are often said to be “worth the wait,” but Mountain Battles is particularly gratifying. The Deal sisters have been doing their thing for 20 years, setting standards for individuality and creativity for legions of younger musicians. That they’re just as inventive and distinctive as they were when they started is a rare and wonderful thing. Even if you can’t help but wish that maybe they had picked up the pace a little “We could have been one of those big bands,” Kelly says, “if we were more organized. I mean, I’d love to be more like Radiohead or U2, but, you know, I can barely get my T-shirts washed. That’s on my list of things to do. Not, like, taking over the world musically.” Kelley was born 11 minutes before Kim. Kim was a cheerleader. Kelley began recreational drug use at age 13. myspace.com : thebreeders / Remember when Belly’s Tanya Donelly was in the Breeders? If not, educate yourself here. When Kim auditioned for the Pixies in 1985, she had never picked up a bass. Kelley insisted on being lead guitarist of the Breeders, even though she couldn’t play. Kelley took up knitting handbags as a way to stay sober after she went to rehab in 1995; she’ll be publishing a book, Bags that Rock, in October 2008. http://myspace.com/thebreeders
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