Pod (The Breeders album)
Pod | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by The Breeders | ||||
Released | May 28, 1990 | |||
Recorded | December 1989 at Palladium Studios, Edinburgh, Scotland | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 30:35 | |||
Label |
4AD/Elektra (U.S.) 4AD (UK) | |||
Producer | Steve Albini | |||
The Breeders chronology | ||||
|
Pod is the debut album by the American alternative rock band the Breeders, released on the independent record label 4AD in May 1990. Engineered by Steve Albini, Pod was recorded at Palladium Studios, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Steve Albini has stated that it is the one album on which he felt he got both the best sound for a band, and the best performance from a band. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain called it one of the most influential albums of his life.
Background and recording
In 1988, Kim Deal of the Pixies and Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses became good friends when the two bands toured Europe together.[1] Deal and Donelly spent time together playing guitar and drinking beer,[2] and shared musical ideas with each other.[3] During the tour, and later in Boston, the two often went dancing together.[4] On one outing, at a Sugarcubes concert in Boston, dance music was playing between sets,[5] and the two drunkenly decided to write and record some dance music.[5][6] They envisioned an "organic dance band" that would consist of Deal on bass, Donelly on guitar, and two drummers;[2] they recorded Donelly's song "Rise" with Throwing Muses' David Narcizo,[6] and planned to do other originals, as well as a cover of Rufus and Chaka Khan's "Tell Me Something Good".[2] However, Deal and Donelly decided that their dance music concept was not working well, and did not pursue it.[4][5]
At some point, the two friends realized they could still use their songs for a non-dance project.[3] Due to professional and personal circumstances, it was eighteen months after their recording of "Rise" that they were able to work together again.[6] A factor that increased Deal's dedication to the project was Pixie co-member Black Francis's decision to do a solo tour; Deal decide that if he did activity outside of their group, she could too.[1]
Deal and Donelly recorded demo songs with violinist Carrie Bradley of Ed's Redeeming Qualities, bassist Ray Holiday, and four different drummers.[7] The demo had a country music feel.[1] Paul Kolderie engineered several of the demo songs, but Deal felt they sounded "too clean"; she asked Joe Harvard (of Fort Apache Studios[8]) to remix them to sound rougher.[9] Around this time, the group performed a concert at the Rat music venue in Boston; in the city's Phoenix newspaper, the band was described as a female supergroup.[10] Ivo Watts-Russell—the cofounder of 4AD, the record label of the Pixies and Throwing Muses—heard the demo, and was very enthusiastic about it.[1][10] Watts-Russell offered funding to rerecord the songs for an album release.[1][10] 4AD gave the band an $11,000 budget.[11] Deal called the band "the Breeders", a name that she and her sister Kelley had used when performing as teenagers;[4] this was a slang expression Deal found amusing that homosexuals used to refer to heterosexuals.[1]
Although Deal was the bassist of the Pixies, she wanted to play guitar for the Breeders, because it was easier to sing at the same time.[1][12] Deal recruited Josephine Wiggs of Perfect Disaster to be the Breeders' bassist; the two knew each other from when Perfect Disaster had toured with the Pixies in Europe in 1989.[1][12] Deal wanted Steve Albini to record the album;[13] Deal had previously worked with him on the Pixies' Surfer Rosa album.[14] Deal hoped to have her sister Kelley be the Breeders' drummer, but the latter was not able to take time away from her program analyst job.[13] Albini suggested they use Britt Walford of the band Slint instead.[13][15] (Walford used the pseudonym Shannon Daughton, because he did not want his participation in the Breeders to overshadow his role in Slint.)[16] Before recording began, Deal, Wiggs, and Walford rehearsed at Wiggs' house in Bedfordshire, England for a week, and then joined Donelly in London to practice more.[12]
Watts-Russell suggested it would be enjoyable for the Breeders record at a studio in Scotland[17] called the Palladium.[8] It was a house that included a recording studio on the first floor, as well as bedrooms upstairs.[12] The band members sometimes recorded wearing their pajamas, and more than once went to a local pub without changing into regular clothes.[18] The studio was booked for two weeks, but the album itself only took one week to record; during the remaining time, the Breeders recorded a John Peel session, and a television crew filmed a video of the band.[19]
"Iris"
Sample of "Iris", the eighth track on Pod. | |
Problems playing this file? See media help. |
Cover
The album's cover was designed by Vaughan Oliver with photography by Kevin Westenberg.[8] Oliver attached a belt of dead eels over his underwear,[20] and performed a fertility dance while Westenberg took pictures using a long exposure.[21] Oliver's inspiration included the need for "a strong male response" (via the "phallic" eels) to the music of the mostly female Breeders.[22] Another motivation was his attempt to charm Kim Deal, and speak to her sense of humor, as he had become enamored with her.[21]
Release and reception
Professional ratings | |
---|---|
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [23] |
Blender | [24] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [25] |
Entertainment Weekly | B−[26] |
NME | 9/10[27] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [28] |
Select | 5/5[29] |
Spin | [30] |
Pod was released on May 28, 1990 by 4AD in the UK. (In the USA, it was originally released on 4AD/Rough Trade, and then in 1992 by 4AD/Elektra Records.) Although the album did not chart in the U.S., it was a minor hit in the UK, peaking at #22 on the UK Albums Chart.[31]
The album did, nevertheless, receive much acclaim from mainstream critics; The New York Times' Karen Schoemer wrote: "The angular melodies, shattered tempos and screeching dynamics recall elements of each of the women's full-time bands, but Pod has a smart, innovative edge all its own."[32] Heather Phares of AllMusic hailed the album as "a vibrantly creative debut," and praised its "creative songwriting, immediate production...and clever arrangements." Phares compared Pod favorably to the Pixies' Bossanova and Throwing Muses' Hunkpapa; Deal and Donelly's respective bands' releases at that time.[23]
The praise, however, was not unequivocal; The Village Voice's Robert Christgau called the album an "art project" and implied that The Breeders did not "[sound] like a band";[33] he assigned it a "neither" rating, indicating an album that "may impress once or twice with consistent craft or an arresting track or two. Then it won't."[33] In his book The Rough Guide to Rock, Peter Buckley downplays comparisons with the Pixies, suggesting the album is "far too plodding for that."[34] In The A to X of Alternative Music, Steve Taylor says, "Deal's songs [on Pod] are not of the same quality as her Pixies work."[35]
In a 1992 interview with Melody Maker, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain described his great admiration for Pod: "The way they structure [the songs is] totally unique, very atmospheric."[36] Subsequently, in August 1993, after the release of their second album Last Splash, the Breeders were invited to open for Nirvana at several venues in Europe.[37] In July 2007, in a chat forum interview, Pod's engineer Steve Albini revealed that he considered the album to be amongst his best works.[38] In 2003, Pitchfork Media listed the album at #81 on their list of the Top 100 Albums of the 1990s.[39]
Track listing
All tracks written by Kim Deal, except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Glorious" | Deal, R. Halliday | 3:23 |
2. | "Doe" | Deal, Halliday | 2:06 |
3. | "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" | Lennon–McCartney | 2:46 |
4. | "Oh!" | 2:27 | |
5. | "Hellbound" | 2:21 | |
6. | "When I Was a Painter" | 3:24 | |
7. | "Fortunately Gone" | 1:44 | |
8. | "Iris" | 3:29 | |
9. | "Opened" | 2:28 | |
10. | "Only in 3's" | Deal, Donelly | 1:56 |
11. | "Lime House" | 1:45 | |
12. | "Metal Man" | Deal, Wiggs | 2:46 |
Personnel
- Kim Deal – lead vocals, guitar
- Tanya Donelly – guitar, backing vocals
- Josephine Wiggs – bass, backing vocals, Spanish guitar (12)
- Britt Walford (credited as Shannon Doughton) – drums, backing vocals
- Carrie Bradley – violin
- Michael Allen – backing vocals (on "Oh!")
- Steve Albini – engineer
- Vaughan Oliver/ v23 – sleeve design
- Kevin Westerberg – photography
Charts
Chart (1990) | Peak position |
---|---|
Dutch Albums Chart[40] | 73 |
UK Albums Chart[31] | 22 |
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Aston 2013, p. 319
- 1 2 3 Donelly, Tanya in Spitz 2004, p. 72
- 1 2 Deal, Kim in Frank 2005, p. 132
- 1 2 3 Donelly, Tanya in Frank 2005, p. 132
- 1 2 3 Murphy, John in Frank 2005, p. 131
- 1 2 3 Aston 2013, p. 318
- ↑ Murphy, John in Frank 2005, p. 132
- 1 2 3 Pod CD booklet
- ↑ Harvard, Joe in Frank 2005, p. 133
- 1 2 3 Murphy, John in Frank 2005, p. 133
- ↑ Deal, Kim in Spitz 2004, p. 72
- 1 2 3 4 Wiggs 2008
- 1 2 3 Aston 2013, p. 320
- ↑ Surfer Rosa Credits
- ↑ Albini, Steve in Frank 2005, pp. 134–135
- ↑ Albini 2002
- ↑ Watts-Russell, Ivo in Frank 2005, p. 134
- ↑ Donelly, Tanya in Frank 2005, p. 135
- ↑ Albini, Steve in Frank 2005, p. 135
- ↑ Aston 2013, p. 53
- 1 2 Oliver, Vaughan in Manning 2013
- ↑ Oliver, Vaughan in Aston 2013, p. 53
- 1 2 Phares
- ↑ Dolan
- ↑ Larkin 2011, p. 2006
- ↑ Sandow 1990
- ↑ Lamacq 1990
- ↑ Brackett 2004, p. 104
- ↑ Linehan 1990, p. 84
- ↑ Kandell 2008
- 1 2 Breeders: Singles/Albums (UK Charts)
- ↑ Schoemer 1990
- 1 2 Christgau
- ↑ Buckley 2003, p. 136
- ↑ Taylor 2006, p. 185
- ↑ Aston 2013, p. 321
- ↑ Albini 2002
- ↑ Steve Albini Drops Anonymity, Answers Questions In Poker Forum
- ↑ LeMay 2003, p. 2
- ↑ Zoeken naar: Breeders (Dutch Charts)
References
- Albini, Steve (2002). "The Breeders History". Blues Interactions Inc. Archived from the original on October 27, 2002. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
- Alcott, Sasha (July 31, 2015). "Boston 101: #36 • "Hellbound " • The Breeders". The Boston Herald. Archived from the original on August 3, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
- Aston, Martin (2013). Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD. The Friday Project. ISBN 978-0-00-748961-9.
- "Breeders: Singles/Albums". Theofficialcharts.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
- Brackett, Nathan, with Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Fireside. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- Breihan, Tom. "The Top 20 Steve Albini-Recorded Albums: 08. The Breeders – 'Pod' (1990)". Stereogum. Archived from the original on May 15, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
- Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 9781843531050.
- Chester, Tim (September 14, 2009). "What Are The Best Beatles Cover Versions? Plus: A Free Fab Four Cover MP3". NME. Archived from the original on October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
- Christgau, Robert. "The Breeders". Consumer Guide Reviews. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- Dolan, Jon. "The Breeders: Pod". Blender. Archived from the original on May 19, 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
- Frank, Josh and Caryn Ganz (2005). Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-312-34007-9.
- Glickman, Simon and Ryan Allen (2005). "The Breeders". Contemporary Musicians. 53. Thomson-Gale. ISBN 0-7876-8066-4.
- Gordon, Jeremy (July 1, 2015). "Kim Deal and Courtney Barnett Chat About Creative Process, Bad Lyrics, More on Talkhouse Podcast". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
- Kandell, Steve (April 1, 2008). "Discography: Kim Deal". Spin. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
- Lamacq, Steve (May 26, 1990). "Breeding Great!". NME.
- Larkin, Colin, ed. (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
- LeMay, Matt (November 17, 2003). "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s: 081. The Breeders – Pod". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- Linehan, Graham (July 1990). "Dig The New Breed". Select (1).
- Manning, James. "Vaughan Oliver's favourite 4AD artwork". Time Out London. Archived from the original on March 30, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
- Parkinson, Hannah Jane (May 19, 2014). "What are the best—and worst—Beatles cover versions?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
- Phares, Heather. "The Breeders: Pod". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 2, 2012. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
- Pod (CD booklet). The Breeders. Canada: Vertigo Records. 1990.
- Raible, Allan (May 19, 2016). "Tanya Donelly Discusses the Reunion of Belly, Her Work With the Breeders and Throwing Muses, and Her New Triple Album". ABC News. Archived from the original on May 20, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
- Sandow, Greg (June 8, 1990). "Notable music for the week of June 8, 1990". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- Schoemer, Karen (July 8, 1990). "Home Entertainment/Recordings: Recent Releases". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
- Spitz, Marc (September 2004). "Life to the Pixies". Spin. Archived from the original on October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
- "Steve Albini Drops Anonymity, Answers Questions In Poker Forum". Stereogum. July 6, 2007. Archived from the original on March 16, 2014. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
- "Surfer Rosa Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
- Taylor, Steve (2006). The A to X of Alternative Music. A&C Black. ISBN 9780826482174. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
- Wice, Nathaniel (April 1992). "The Breeders: A band of one's own for the Pixies' Kim Deal". Spin. Archived from the original on October 16, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
- Wiggs, Josephine (2008). "The Breeders – Mountain Battles" (PDF). Radio Max Music. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
- "Zoeken naar: Breeders" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
External links
- Pod at MusicBrainz