Search - The Breeders :: Mountain Battles

The Magic Spark May Be Gone, But There's Some Good Stuff Her

Rich Latta | Albuquerque, NM - Land of Entitlement | 09/30/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Singer, guitarist and head Breeder Kim Deal in interviews has expressed a fear of sucking since going clean off drugs. Upon first listen to MOUNTAIN BATTLES, I was afraid her fears may have come to pass. Quite honestly, I found many of these songs to be slow, plodding, tuneless and uninspired. I had to go back and listen to POD, SAFARI and LAST SPLASH to remind myself that I really did love this band. Breeders songs have always had primitive instrumentation, but MOUNTAIN BATTLES is REALLY, REALLY primitive sounding. Apparently, they were going for that lazy, strung-out junkie vibe. Without the drugs. (-?)



Determined to give the album a fair shake, I have since warmed up to MOUNTAIN BATTLES quite a bit and I've come to appreciate its bohemian charms. I agree with the general concensus here, this album is a "grower" (which seems a little strange because it's not like having to digest overly sophisticated prog-rock).



It's always good to accept an album for what it is, not for what you think it SHOULD be. The majority of MOUNTAIN BATTLES is pretty mellow. There aren't any wall-of-sound superblasts as heard on past gems like "New Year," "Roi" or their killer cover of "Happiness Is A Warm Gun," but some of these songs are pretty rockin' anyway. Kim Deal's voice is slightly more ragged, but she can still deliver heavenly harmonies. She still has that high-pitched, sexy little girl thing going for her.



BREAKDOWN!



"Overglazed" - a blast of primal euphoria. Cool backwards guitars and spastic drums. The lyrics consist entirely of, "I can FEEL it! Oh, oh, oh, OH, oh, OH!" What can she feel? I'm not sure but it feels good! ****1/2



"Bang On" - Like every song on MOUNTAIN BATTLES, the bass sound is WAY turned up on this one. Slinky guitars and scattered hand claps propel this song, a real charmer despite (or maybe because of) the fact that the musicians sound like they just learned how to play. "I love no one/ And no one loves me" - pretty basic, but pretty cool. ****



"Night of Joy" - a mellow tune, sweet and dreamy. ***1/2



"We're Gonna Rise" - another mellow one, a little more interesting, it sounds lethargic and sleepy. Features sweet vocal harmonies. ****



"German Studies" - a rockin' beat but pretty awful melody, I just can't get with this one. The lyrics sound like faux-German gibberish. **



"Spark" - almost tuneless and stagnant in places, but does feature some sweet vocals, harmonies and a plaintive guitar, interrupted by strange vocal injections. A weird song. Weird is good . . . or at least something off the beaten path. ***



"Istanbul" - Kind of meandering, vaguely mysterious and Middle Eastern. I find the chanted "chorus" to be rather annoying, but some will no doubt think it's cool. ***



"Walk It Off" - a fun song with an old-school alt-rock beat. A groovy, laid-back rocker. ****1/2



"Regalame esta Nocha" - sung passionately in a peculiarly accented Spanish with very pretty guitar. ****1/2



"Here No More" - a waltz rhythm strummed on acoustic guitar. Sweet song. ****



"No Way" - atonal singing with heavy electric guitar, bass and drums. Sloppy and cool, barely hangs onto the beat. ***1/2



"It's The Love" - a rockin' song written by the Tasties. Has a exuberant guitar and spirited singing. Messy and fun. ****



"Mountain Battles" - a weird, barely there track with bizarre vocals and elongated organ notes. Distorted guitars emerge towards the end of the track. Weird, weird tune. ***"