The Breeders

With their volatile mix of hooky pop and experimental tangents, the Breeders shaped the early-'90s alternative rock revolution and have forged a resolutely independent path ever since. The band started as a way for Pixies' Kim Deal and Throwing Muses' Tanya Donelly to let out some suppressed creative energy, and those bands' shifting dynamics and warped pop sensibilities could be heard within the Breeders' 1990 debut album Pod. However, it was 1993's platinum-selling Last Splash -- and its smash hit single "Cannonball" -- that brought the band's mischievously sexy style to a wider audience while drawing on country, surf, and reggae influences. Their later albums, such as 2008's Mountain Battles, were more stripped down but just as unpredictable. When the reunited Last Splash lineup returned with 2018's tough yet vulnerable All Nerve, the Breeders' enduring influence was apparent in the work of artists like Courtney Barnett, Speedy Ortiz, and Lucy Dacus.

When Pixies bassist Deal and Throwing Muses guitarist Donelly became friends during their bands' 1988 European tour, they pledged to make music together. Initially inspired by the Sugarcubes, they tried their hand at making their own version of dance-pop, recording a version of Rufus and Chaka Khan's "Tell Me Something Good" and the Donelly original "Rise." In 1989, they worked with Ed's Redeeming Qualities violinist/vocalist Carrie Bradley and bassist Ray Holiday -- for this project, Deal switched to guitar as it was easier to play while singing -- on a set of country-tinged demos.

After hearing the songs, Pixies and Throwing Muses' label 4AD greenlit an album from the group, which was dubbed the Breeders after an LGBT slang term for straight people; Deal previously used this name for the music project she had with her twin sister Kelley when they were teenagers. Deal and Donelly brought in Perfect Disaster's Josephine Wiggs as bassist, and when Kelley couldn't get enough time away from her job to become the band's drummer, Slint's Britt Walford joined the fold under the pseudonym Shannon Doughton. The Breeders recorded their debut album at Edinburgh, Scotland's Palladium studio in January 1990 while Deal's Pixies bandmates were starting work on Bossanova in Los Angeles (she joined them in the studio that February). Engineered by Surfer Rosa collaborator Steve Albini, Pod arrived in May 1990. The album peaked at 22 on the U.K. Albums chart and won praise from critics and artists including Nirvana's Kurt Cobain for its roomy, lively sound and unconventional songwriting.

Though Deal and Donelly recorded demos for the Breeders' second album following Pod's release, Donelly departed in 1991 to form her own band Belly. Walford left around the same time, but he and Donelly both contributed to the Breeders' next release, April 1992's muscular yet melodic Safari EP. The EP also marked the debut of Kelley Deal as the band's second guitarist, and was their only release to feature both her and Donelly. Later that year, the Breeders drafted drummer Jim MacPherson and played their first high-profile gigs in 1992, opening for Nirvana on their European tour.

As the band worked on its second album in the beginning of 1993, Pixies disbanded, leaving Kim Deal able to pursue the Breeders full-time. Produced by Deal and co-produced by Mark Freegard, August 1993's Last Splash added some pop gloss to the band's sound but also incorporated touches of reggae, grunge, country, and surf as well as noisy experiments. Driven by the success of the sonic collage "Cannonball," an Alternative Airplay number two hit that also charted in several other countries, Last Splash catapulted the group into stardom. The album was certified platinum in the U.S., silver in the U.K., and gold in Canada, Australia, and France and spawned two other charting singles, "Divine Hammer" and "Saints." The Breeders rounded out the year by joining Nirvana on the In Utero tour and lending a live version of Pod's "Iris" to the Red Hot Organization's AIDS benefit compilation No Alternative.

In 1994, the Breeders had a prime spot on 1994's Lollapalooza tour and released the J Mascis-produced Head to Toe EP, which featured covers of Sebadoh's "Freed Pig" and Guided by Voices' "Shocker in Gloomtown" along with originals from the band.

Just as quickly as success hit the band, the Breeders went on a sudden hiatus, partly due to exhaustion from the rapid nature of their fame and from their extensive touring. Late in 1994, Kelley was arrested for drug possession and went to a rehab clinic in Minnesota; the rest of the bandmembers went their separate ways while she recuperated. Wiggs played with musicians around New York, ultimately forming the Josephine Wiggs Experience with them; Kim returned to Dayton with MacPherson, learned how to play the drums, and continued writing songs. By early 1995, Kim had an album's worth of new material ready to record. Though she considered recording them on her own, Deal decided to assemble a backing band of MacPherson and other Dayton-area musicians, including Nathan Farley and Luis Lerma of the Tasties. Not surprisingly, the Amps -- originally called Tammy & the Amps -- sounded like a rougher, lo-fi version of the Breeders; their gigs and their 1995 album Pacer emphasized the loose, charming spontaneity of Deal's style.

Though the Breeders' break was supposed to be temporary, it lasted several years. Along with her time in the Josephine Wiggs Experience, Wiggs later formed Dusty Trails with Luscious Jackson's Vivian Trimble and co-produced Klassics with a "K" by the Kostars, another Luscious Jackson side project. After Kelley completed her rehab, she formed her own solo project, the Kelley Deal 6000. She toured and released an album with this group, 1996's Go to the Sugar Altar.

That year, Kim reclaimed the Breeders name and played some California dates with the band, which featured members of the Amps and Bradley. In 1997, the Breeders played the Tim Taylor Memorial Benefit Concert -- in honor of Brainiac's singer/keyboardist, who had been killed in a car accident earlier that year -- with that group's drummer Tyler Trent replacing MacPherson (the latter went on to play with Guided by Voices). Later that year, Deal went into the studio in one of many frustrated attempts to make the third Breeders album. However, the group's low profile didn't mean that it didn't have any hits; a sample from "Cannonball" used in the Prodigy's worldwide smash "Firestarter" earned Kim songwriting credits and royalties. By early 1998, Kelley had rejoined the band and the duo continued to write and record songs, contributing a cover of the Three Degrees' "Collage" that appeared on the soundtrack to the big-screen adaptation of The Mod Squad.

In 1999, Kim and Kelley spent time in the studio with Steve Albini, and in 2000, the Breeders played their first gig in over three years (and Kim's first show with Kelley in over six) at a free, secret show in Los Angeles. This version of the band featured bassist Mando Lopez and guitarist Richard Presley (both formerly of Fear), and drummer Jose Medeles backing the Deal sisters. The group reconvened in the studio with Albini in 2001, completing an album's worth of songs. The Breeders began a flurry of activity in 2002, including the release of the Off You and Huffer singles and their long-awaited third album, Title TK, that May. A rawer-sounding effort than Last Splash that put the Deals' harmonies at the forefront, the album reached 51 on the U.K. Albums chart and 130 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart in the U.S. That year, the Breeders appeared on an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and in 2003, they covered "Wicked Little Town: Hedwig Version" for the Hedwig and the Angry Inch tribute album Wig in a Box.

In 2004, Kim Deal joined Pixies on their North America and Europe reunion tours, with Kelley accompanying her on the road to work on Breeders songs. The songwriting process extended into 2007, and the group -- which comprised the Deal sisters, Lopez, and Medeles -- worked with several engineers, including Albini, to record their next album. Appearing in April 2008, Mountain Battles continued Title TK's minimalist rock; it peaked at 46 in the U.K. and at number 12 on the Independent Albums chart in the U.S. While touring the U.K. in late 2008, the Breeders recorded some songs written after Mountain Battles' release at London's Fortress Studios and continued sessions at Albini's Electrical Audio studio and in Kim Deal's basement studio. Released in April 2009, the Fate to Fatal EP featured a cover of Bob Marley's "Chances Are" and guest vocals from Mark Lanegan. Later in the year, the band curated the All Tomorrow's Parties Festival in Minehead, England. The following September, they played the All Tomorrow's Parties Festival again, this time in Monticello, New York. In 2013, the band celebrated the 20th anniversary of Last Splash with a deluxe reissue that included singles, B-sides, demos, and live performances. Kim and Kelley Deal also reunited with Wiggs and MacPherson for a tour where the band performed Last Splash in its entirety.

Following the tour's success, the band began work on their fifth album. The Breeders recorded with longtime producer Albini at his Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, as well as with Mike Montgomery at Kentucky's Candyland Recording Studio and with Tom Rastikis at Ohio's Fernwood Studios. In October 2017, the band delivered its first new music in eight years with "Wait in the Car," the lead single from All Nerve. Featuring backing vocals by Courtney Barnett, the album was released in March 2018, nearly 25 years after Last Splash. All Nerve peaked at 79 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart in the U.S., cracked the Top Ten in the U.K., and charted throughout Europe.

The members of the Breeders began the 2020s spending time on their individual projects. Kim wrote a solo album; Kelly worked with R. Ring and Protomartyr; MacPherson played with the surf band the Mulchmen, and Wiggs collaborated with drummer Jon Mattock. In 2021, they reconvened to contribute a version of His Name Is Alive's "The Dirt Eaters" to the 4AD compilation Bills and Aches and Blues. Two years later, the Breeders hit the road to commemorate Last Splash's 30th anniversary with dates at Coachella and Riot Fest as well as with the Foo Fighters, Belly, and Horsegirl. September 2023 saw the release of a Last Splash reissue that was remastered from the original analog tapes and included two previously unreleased songs from the album's sessions: "Go Man Go," which was co-written by Pixies' Black Francis, and "Divine Mascis," a version of "Divine Hammer" with J Mascis on lead vocals. ~ Heather Phares & Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi