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Rating: "Pod", or how the Pixies should have sounded according to Kim Deal.
The Breeders were much more than just a side project of the former Pixies bassist; they actually influenced many alternative/grunge artists, especially Kurt Cobain, who cited the album in question among the most influential on his production. Just consider the members: Tanya Donelly, already guitarist of Throwing Muses, the same Deal, and Shannon Doughton, the pseudonym of Britt Walford, renowned drummer of Slint. Consider the production: Steve Albini, a man who certainly needs no introduction, who claimed that "Pod" was «the only album where he felt he had achieved the best sound and performance from a band».
The album opens with "Glorious"; balanced between Pixies and Throwing Muses, it boasts a perfectly defined rhythmic section and constitutes an indie lament similar to those later appreciated in some of P.J. Harvey's works (but much darker and more hysterical). The imprint of Donelly and her Throwing Muses is evident in a track like "Doe", exalted by the acoustic guitar and the sweet voice of Kim, capable of writing catchy yet tense melodies. Noteworthy is the similar-grunge cover of the Beatles' "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", alternating moments of tension, silences interrupted only by guitar noise, and verses sung angelically before culminating in angry choruses. The absolute peak of the album is probably the grunge-pop gem "Hellbound", which starts with an incredibly skillful bass line, nothing artificial. Kim perfectly combines catchy melodies and instrumental fury with the awareness of a great artist. Worth mentioning is also Tanya Donelly's guitar, which writes truly heart-wrenching phrases. "Fortunately Gone" still shows the influence of Throwing Muses and demonstrates the excellent songwriting abilities of Kim Deal, who crafts a splendid acoustic gem. The piece reveals beautiful melodic passages, sunny yet veiled by a subtle melancholy that permeates the entire album. Donelly's acoustic guitar accompaniment is as effective as ever, and Josephine Wiggs on bass contributes to making the whole thing even more evocative.
"When I Was A Painter" harkens back to the Pixies of "Surfer Rosa" and captivates with its "stifled" violin, the pounding bass riffs of Wiggs, and Deal's peculiar voice; it's an indie rock cultured and sophisticated and ranks among the high points of the album. The intro of "Metal Man" is vaguely comparable to that of "Teen Age Riot" by Sonic Youth if the latter were acoustic; it's an episode that is somewhat experimental, due to the sudden accelerations and almost incessant murmuring. The merits of the song are primarily the suggestive intertwining of the acoustic guitars, but also the very well-chosen backing vocals by Tanya Donelly. In the fleeting "Lime House", Donelly strikes again with her astonishing guitar riff, the absolute protagonist of the piece. Kim's singing becomes more nervous, Wiggs' bass increasingly effective, as clearly shown in "Opened", a track with Sonic Youth-like atmospheres. Deal indeed reminds me in some vocal attitudes of Kim Gordon, not to mention Donelly's guitar, which is played almost in the manner of Thurston Moore, while still confined to rock canons without attempting any experiments. The most complex remains "Iris", which slightly anticipates the sound of the early Hole, though not as extreme and particularly harsh. Kim screams, but they are certainly not screams comparable to those, furious and reckless, of Courtney Love; they are therefore always within certain limits, although approaching those typical of the foxcore genre, which would soon develop. What Hole would draw heavily from are the guitar hysterics, anyway, Love openly admitted to being inspired by Kim Deal's style and her Breeders.
"Pod" is to be considered a very valid debut, although it was slightly inferior to the subsequent "Last Splash", the masterpiece of the Breeders in every respect, thanks especially to a compelling single like "Cannonball", which would definitively consecrate them among the best indie acts of the '90s. Furthermore, with this album, Kim Deal proved to have songwriting skills by no means inferior to those of former bandmate Black Francis, who often tried to overshadow the artistic vein of the bassist in the Pixies, imposing himself firmly as the leader and sole mind of the group on various occasions (during a concert, he even went so far as to throw his guitar at Kim).
I'd say Deal certainly took a nice revenge.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Glorious (03:23)
Da-da...
Ahhh...
Hold my breath for three more year
Yeah, three years
On my own on Saturdays
It's glorious [2x]
We were tired from the tea
Scrabbled and we slept
Through the window came the rain
It's glorious [6x]
Being tired from the tea
Hold my breath for three more year
Yeah, three years
On my own on Saturdays
It's glorious [3x]
02 Doe (02:06)
Top this
Da-da...
Tripping
I walk to where he's sitting
It's all salty salty
He knows It's good, it's real, it's pretty
It's all salty Timmy
It's all salty Timmy
It's all salty Timmy
He said Doe Doe Doe
Dared leave
We've burned the field completely
Ahhh... last light
I feel it's real, it's pretty
It's all salty Timmy
It's all salty Timmy
It's all salty Timmy
He said Doe Doe Doe
03 Happiness Is a Warm Gun (02:46)
She's not a girl who misses much
Do-do-do, oh yeah
She's well acquainted
With the touch of a velvet hand
Like a lizard on a window pane
Man in the crowd
With the multicoloured mirrors
On his hobnail boots
Lying with his eyes
While his hands are busy
Working overtime
The sole confession of his wife
Which he ate and donated to the
National Trust
I need a fix cause I'm going down
Down to the abyss that I've left up town
I need a fix cause I'm going down
Mother Superior jumped the gun (6 x)
Happiness is a warm gun (4 x)
(Bang, bang, shoot, shoot)
Some guy: Josephine, do you think you are going bald?
Josephine: No. You've asked me that before and the answer was no then
05 Hellbound (02:21)
It lives in folds of red and steamy air
It lives in misery
Hellbound
Hellbound
Hellbound
Hellbound
Hellbound
Hellbound
Oh, oh we're falling
Falling down
Down...
It lives, dispite the knives internal
It lives marry me
Hellbound
Oh, we're falling
Falling down
Down...
It lives in misery
Hellbound
06 When I Was a Painter (03:24)
Inside legs of corduroy I've been
Heard stories of air velveteen
Twenty hours later I fill the room
With bad sex and bad TV
Go, go, go *2
When I was a painter I painted you well
Too bad I have to die
You brought the essentials, perversion appeal
And many lovers at one time
Go, go, go *2
On and on, on, on
Inside legs of corduroy I've been
Heard stories of air velveteen
Twenty hours later I fill the room
With bad sex and bad TV
Go, go, go *2
On and on, on, on
07 Fortunately Gone (01:44)
I wait for you in heaven
On this perfect string of love
And drink your soup of magpies in a
Pottery bowl that looks
As I am now, brown, round and warm
Chime on a rain wet
An ankle, toes or two
Sweetly as it drops upon your head
Just like it did today
Fortunately gone
I wait for you
Chime on a rain wet
An ankle, toes or two
Sweetly as it drops upon your head
Just like it did today
Fortunately gone
I wait for you (chorus *2)
08 Iris (03:29)
Four hours in the pot, one hour out
It grows and I sleep standing up
When Iris sleeps over
What a book she'll write
Oh last night
Oh come on, nobody wants that
Sister, sister, Oh...
We tried hour by hour
Hour by hour
Hour by hour
Four hours to daylight, four hours and then
Pour water on me til I live again
When Iris sleeps over
It'll be alright
All last night
But come on, nobody wants that
Sister, sister, oh...
We tried hour by hour
Hour by hour
Hour by hour
09 Opened (02:28)
Walking on his highways
We leave the land
And float inside the dark, black water
Robin flies again
She flew low over the highways
And I saw the wind
Blowing back her barbie doll hair
Robin flies again
And in a kitchen in Kentucky
She thinks she's Peter Pan
And in the bottom of a concrete basement
Robin flies again
10 Only in 3's (01:56)
Oh...
Back burns are green and off for me and her
He's an ape, he's an ape, he's an angel
Only in 3's, oh...
Only in 3's, oh yeah
Only in 3's, oh...
Oh...
Hay for a bed with her on my head
And you are the king, the same king who will burn me
Only in 3's, oh...
Only in 3's, oh yeah
Only in 3's, oh...
11 Lime House (01:45)
I walk by, I fall down
For warm black tar forms balls
And black tar baby
I'm in a lime house
I'm in a lime house
I'm in a lime house
I'm in a lime house
Fall..., stay for good
Oh live and live and live in the dark baby
Tar baby
I'm in a lime house
I'm in a lime house
I'm in a lime house
I'm in a lime house
I'm in a lime house
I'm in a lime house
I'm in a lime house
I'm in a lime house
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By lester69
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