Biography
The Breeders emerged from a combustible blend of infectious melodies and unpredictable detours that helped define the early-1990s alternative rock upheaval, then charted a steadfastly self-reliant course in the decades that followed. Pixies bassist Kim Deal and Throwing Muses guitarist Tanya Donelly launched the project to release creative impulses their main bands had left unrealized, allowing the fluctuating energies and idiosyncratic pop instincts of those groups to surface on the Breeders’ first full-length, Pod, issued in 1990. The 1993 release Last Splash, however, which earned platinum certification, and its breakout single “Cannonball” carried the band’s playfully provocative sound to a far larger public by weaving in threads of country, surf, and reggae. Subsequent records such as 2008’s Mountain Battles favored a leaner palette while retaining the same restless character. When the original Last Splash lineup reconvened for 2018’s All Nerve, a collection that balanced toughness with emotional openness, the group’s continuing reach could be traced in the music of Courtney Barnett, Speedy Ortiz, and Lucy Dacus.
Deal and Donelly first bonded on the 1988 European tour shared by their respective bands and vowed to collaborate musically. Initially drawn to the Sugarcubes’ example, they experimented with their own take on dance-pop, cutting a rendition of Rufus and Chaka Khan’s “Tell Me Something Good” plus the Donelly-penned “Rise.” Working in 1989 with Ed’s Redeeming Qualities violinist and vocalist Carrie Bradley and bassist Ray Holiday, Deal moved to guitar because it proved simpler to play while singing, and the quartet laid down a batch of country-inflected demos.
Impressed by the material, 4AD—the label home to both Pixies and Throwing Muses—approved an album by the new outfit, which they named the Breeders after an LGBT slang term for heterosexuals; Deal had already used the same name for a teenage music project with her twin sister Kelley. The lineup was completed by Perfect Disaster’s Josephine Wiggs on bass and, when Kelley could not secure sufficient leave from her job to handle drums, Slint’s Britt Walford, who adopted the alias Shannon Doughton. The Breeders tracked Pod at Edinburgh’s Palladium studio in January 1990 while Deal’s Pixies colleagues began Bossanova in Los Angeles; she joined them the following month. Engineered by Steve Albini, a collaborator on Surfer Rosa, the album appeared in May 1990, reached number 22 on the U.K. Albums chart, and earned acclaim from critics and from Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain for its spacious, dynamic sonics and unconventional songcraft.
Although Deal and Donelly sketched material for a second Breeders album after Pod’s release, Donelly exited in 1991 to form Belly. Walford departed around the same period, yet both contributed to the band’s next outing, the muscular yet melodic Safari EP of April 1992. That EP introduced Kelley Deal as second guitarist and remains the only release to feature both her and Donelly. Later in 1992 the group recruited drummer Jim MacPherson and made their first major live appearances, supporting Nirvana on the European leg of the In Utero tour.
While the Breeders began work on their second album in early 1993, Pixies dissolved, freeing Kim Deal to devote herself fully to the project. Produced by Deal and co-produced by Mark Freegard, Last Splash, released that August, polished the band’s sound with pop sheen yet retained touches of reggae, grunge, country, surf, and noisy experimentation. Powered by the collage-like “Cannonball,” which peaked at number two on Alternative Airplay and charted internationally, the album propelled the group to stardom. It earned platinum certification in the United States, silver in the United Kingdom, and gold in Canada, Australia, and France, and yielded two further charting singles, “Divine Hammer” and “Saints.” The Breeders closed the year by joining Nirvana on the In Utero tour and supplying a live reading of Pod’s “Iris” to the Red Hot Organization’s AIDS-benefit compilation No Alternative.
In 1994 the band secured a prominent slot on the Lollapalooza tour and issued the J Mascis-produced Head to Toe EP, which included covers of Sebadoh’s “Freed Pig” and Guided by Voices’ “Shocker in Gloomtown” alongside original tracks.
Success proved short-lived; the Breeders soon entered an abrupt hiatus prompted in part by exhaustion from sudden fame and relentless touring. Late in 1994 Kelley was arrested on drug-possession charges and entered a Minnesota rehabilitation clinic; the remaining members dispersed during her recovery. Wiggs performed with New York musicians and eventually formed the Josephine Wiggs Experience, while Kim returned to Dayton with MacPherson, taught herself drums, and kept writing. By early 1995 she had assembled enough new songs for an album. Although she considered recording them solo, Deal instead assembled a backing band of MacPherson and other Dayton players, including Nathan Farley and Luis Lerma of the Tasties. Originally called Tammy & the Amps, the project delivered a rougher, lo-fi iteration of the Breeders’ style; its performances and the 1995 album Pacer captured the loose, spontaneous charm of Deal’s approach.
Intended as a brief pause, the Breeders’ hiatus extended for several years. Wiggs later formed Dusty Trails with Luscious Jackson’s Vivian Trimble and co-produced the Kostars’ Klassics with a “K,” another Luscious Jackson offshoot. After completing rehab, Kelley launched her own venture, the Kelley Deal 6000, which toured and released the 1996 album Go to the Sugar Altar.
In 1996 Kim revived the Breeders name for California dates featuring Amps members and Bradley. The following year the group performed at the Tim Taylor Memorial Benefit Concert—honoring the Brainiac singer and keyboardist killed earlier in a car accident—with Tyler Trent of that band substituting for MacPherson, who subsequently joined Guided by Voices. Later in 1997 Deal entered the studio in one of several unsuccessful attempts to complete a third Breeders album. Despite the band’s low profile, a sample from “Cannonball” in the Prodigy’s global hit “Firestarter” secured songwriting credit and royalties for Kim. By early 1998 Kelley had rejoined, and the sisters resumed writing and recording, contributing a cover of the Three Degrees’ “Collage” to the soundtrack of the feature-film adaptation of The Mod Squad.
In 1999 the Deal sisters worked in the studio with Steve Albini; in 2000 the Breeders played their first show in more than three years—and Kim’s first with Kelley in over six—at a free, secret concert in Los Angeles. This configuration included bassist Mando Lopez and guitarist Richard Presley, both formerly of Fear, plus drummer Jose Medeles. The group returned to the studio with Albini in 2001 and finished an album’s worth of material. Activity accelerated in 2002 with the singles “Off You” and “Huffer” and the long-awaited third album Title TK in May. A rawer effort than Last Splash that foregrounded the Deals’ harmonies, the record reached number 51 on the U.K. Albums chart and number 130 on the Billboard 200. That year the Breeders appeared on an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer; in 2003 they recorded “Wicked Little Town: Hedwig Version” for the Hedwig and the Angry Inch tribute album Wig in a Box.
During 2004 Kim joined Pixies on their North American and European reunion tours while Kelley traveled with her to develop Breeders songs. Songwriting continued into 2007, and the lineup—now comprising the Deal sisters, Lopez, and Medeles—recorded their next album with several engineers, including Albini. Released in April 2008, Mountain Battles extended Title TK’s minimalist approach, peaking at number 46 in the United Kingdom and number 12 on the Independent Albums chart in the United States. While touring the U.K. late that year the band tracked additional material at London’s Fortress Studios, then continued sessions at Albini’s Electrical Audio and in Kim’s basement studio. The resulting Fate to Fatal EP, issued in April 2009, featured a cover of Bob Marley’s “Chances Are” and guest vocals from Mark Lanegan. Later that year the Breeders curated the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in Minehead, England, and returned to the festival the following September in Monticello, New York. In 2013 they marked the twentieth anniversary of Last Splash with a deluxe reissue containing singles, B-sides, demos, and live recordings; Kim and Kelley also reunited with Wiggs and MacPherson for a tour performing the album in full.
Buoyed by the tour’s reception, the band commenced work on a fifth album. They recorded with longtime producer Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago, Mike Montgomery at Kentucky’s Candyland Recording Studio, and Tom Rastikis at Ohio’s Fernwood Studios. In October 2017 the group issued its first new music in eight years with “Wait in the Car,” the lead single from All Nerve. The album, which included backing vocals by Courtney Barnett, arrived in March 2018—nearly twenty-five years after Last Splash—and reached number 79 on the Billboard 200, entered the U.K. Top Ten, and charted across Europe.
As the 2020s began, the Breeders turned to individual endeavors: Kim prepared a solo album, Kelley collaborated with R. Ring and Protomartyr, MacPherson performed with the surf outfit the Mulchmen, and Wiggs worked with drummer Jon Mattock. In 2021 the group reconvened to record a version of His Name Is Alive’s “The Dirt Eaters” for the 4AD compilation Bills and Aches and Blues. Two years later the Breeders toured to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Last Splash, appearing at Coachella and Riot Fest and supporting the Foo Fighters, Belly, and Horsegirl. September 2023 brought a remastered reissue of Last Splash drawn from the original analog tapes and featuring two previously unreleased tracks from those sessions: “Go Man Go,” co-written by Pixies’ Black Francis, and “Divine Mascis,” a take on “Divine Hammer” with J Mascis on lead vocals.
Deal and Donelly first bonded on the 1988 European tour shared by their respective bands and vowed to collaborate musically. Initially drawn to the Sugarcubes’ example, they experimented with their own take on dance-pop, cutting a rendition of Rufus and Chaka Khan’s “Tell Me Something Good” plus the Donelly-penned “Rise.” Working in 1989 with Ed’s Redeeming Qualities violinist and vocalist Carrie Bradley and bassist Ray Holiday, Deal moved to guitar because it proved simpler to play while singing, and the quartet laid down a batch of country-inflected demos.
Impressed by the material, 4AD—the label home to both Pixies and Throwing Muses—approved an album by the new outfit, which they named the Breeders after an LGBT slang term for heterosexuals; Deal had already used the same name for a teenage music project with her twin sister Kelley. The lineup was completed by Perfect Disaster’s Josephine Wiggs on bass and, when Kelley could not secure sufficient leave from her job to handle drums, Slint’s Britt Walford, who adopted the alias Shannon Doughton. The Breeders tracked Pod at Edinburgh’s Palladium studio in January 1990 while Deal’s Pixies colleagues began Bossanova in Los Angeles; she joined them the following month. Engineered by Steve Albini, a collaborator on Surfer Rosa, the album appeared in May 1990, reached number 22 on the U.K. Albums chart, and earned acclaim from critics and from Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain for its spacious, dynamic sonics and unconventional songcraft.
Although Deal and Donelly sketched material for a second Breeders album after Pod’s release, Donelly exited in 1991 to form Belly. Walford departed around the same period, yet both contributed to the band’s next outing, the muscular yet melodic Safari EP of April 1992. That EP introduced Kelley Deal as second guitarist and remains the only release to feature both her and Donelly. Later in 1992 the group recruited drummer Jim MacPherson and made their first major live appearances, supporting Nirvana on the European leg of the In Utero tour.
While the Breeders began work on their second album in early 1993, Pixies dissolved, freeing Kim Deal to devote herself fully to the project. Produced by Deal and co-produced by Mark Freegard, Last Splash, released that August, polished the band’s sound with pop sheen yet retained touches of reggae, grunge, country, surf, and noisy experimentation. Powered by the collage-like “Cannonball,” which peaked at number two on Alternative Airplay and charted internationally, the album propelled the group to stardom. It earned platinum certification in the United States, silver in the United Kingdom, and gold in Canada, Australia, and France, and yielded two further charting singles, “Divine Hammer” and “Saints.” The Breeders closed the year by joining Nirvana on the In Utero tour and supplying a live reading of Pod’s “Iris” to the Red Hot Organization’s AIDS-benefit compilation No Alternative.
In 1994 the band secured a prominent slot on the Lollapalooza tour and issued the J Mascis-produced Head to Toe EP, which included covers of Sebadoh’s “Freed Pig” and Guided by Voices’ “Shocker in Gloomtown” alongside original tracks.
Success proved short-lived; the Breeders soon entered an abrupt hiatus prompted in part by exhaustion from sudden fame and relentless touring. Late in 1994 Kelley was arrested on drug-possession charges and entered a Minnesota rehabilitation clinic; the remaining members dispersed during her recovery. Wiggs performed with New York musicians and eventually formed the Josephine Wiggs Experience, while Kim returned to Dayton with MacPherson, taught herself drums, and kept writing. By early 1995 she had assembled enough new songs for an album. Although she considered recording them solo, Deal instead assembled a backing band of MacPherson and other Dayton players, including Nathan Farley and Luis Lerma of the Tasties. Originally called Tammy & the Amps, the project delivered a rougher, lo-fi iteration of the Breeders’ style; its performances and the 1995 album Pacer captured the loose, spontaneous charm of Deal’s approach.
Intended as a brief pause, the Breeders’ hiatus extended for several years. Wiggs later formed Dusty Trails with Luscious Jackson’s Vivian Trimble and co-produced the Kostars’ Klassics with a “K,” another Luscious Jackson offshoot. After completing rehab, Kelley launched her own venture, the Kelley Deal 6000, which toured and released the 1996 album Go to the Sugar Altar.
In 1996 Kim revived the Breeders name for California dates featuring Amps members and Bradley. The following year the group performed at the Tim Taylor Memorial Benefit Concert—honoring the Brainiac singer and keyboardist killed earlier in a car accident—with Tyler Trent of that band substituting for MacPherson, who subsequently joined Guided by Voices. Later in 1997 Deal entered the studio in one of several unsuccessful attempts to complete a third Breeders album. Despite the band’s low profile, a sample from “Cannonball” in the Prodigy’s global hit “Firestarter” secured songwriting credit and royalties for Kim. By early 1998 Kelley had rejoined, and the sisters resumed writing and recording, contributing a cover of the Three Degrees’ “Collage” to the soundtrack of the feature-film adaptation of The Mod Squad.
In 1999 the Deal sisters worked in the studio with Steve Albini; in 2000 the Breeders played their first show in more than three years—and Kim’s first with Kelley in over six—at a free, secret concert in Los Angeles. This configuration included bassist Mando Lopez and guitarist Richard Presley, both formerly of Fear, plus drummer Jose Medeles. The group returned to the studio with Albini in 2001 and finished an album’s worth of material. Activity accelerated in 2002 with the singles “Off You” and “Huffer” and the long-awaited third album Title TK in May. A rawer effort than Last Splash that foregrounded the Deals’ harmonies, the record reached number 51 on the U.K. Albums chart and number 130 on the Billboard 200. That year the Breeders appeared on an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer; in 2003 they recorded “Wicked Little Town: Hedwig Version” for the Hedwig and the Angry Inch tribute album Wig in a Box.
During 2004 Kim joined Pixies on their North American and European reunion tours while Kelley traveled with her to develop Breeders songs. Songwriting continued into 2007, and the lineup—now comprising the Deal sisters, Lopez, and Medeles—recorded their next album with several engineers, including Albini. Released in April 2008, Mountain Battles extended Title TK’s minimalist approach, peaking at number 46 in the United Kingdom and number 12 on the Independent Albums chart in the United States. While touring the U.K. late that year the band tracked additional material at London’s Fortress Studios, then continued sessions at Albini’s Electrical Audio and in Kim’s basement studio. The resulting Fate to Fatal EP, issued in April 2009, featured a cover of Bob Marley’s “Chances Are” and guest vocals from Mark Lanegan. Later that year the Breeders curated the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in Minehead, England, and returned to the festival the following September in Monticello, New York. In 2013 they marked the twentieth anniversary of Last Splash with a deluxe reissue containing singles, B-sides, demos, and live recordings; Kim and Kelley also reunited with Wiggs and MacPherson for a tour performing the album in full.
Buoyed by the tour’s reception, the band commenced work on a fifth album. They recorded with longtime producer Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago, Mike Montgomery at Kentucky’s Candyland Recording Studio, and Tom Rastikis at Ohio’s Fernwood Studios. In October 2017 the group issued its first new music in eight years with “Wait in the Car,” the lead single from All Nerve. The album, which included backing vocals by Courtney Barnett, arrived in March 2018—nearly twenty-five years after Last Splash—and reached number 79 on the Billboard 200, entered the U.K. Top Ten, and charted across Europe.
As the 2020s began, the Breeders turned to individual endeavors: Kim prepared a solo album, Kelley collaborated with R. Ring and Protomartyr, MacPherson performed with the surf outfit the Mulchmen, and Wiggs worked with drummer Jon Mattock. In 2021 the group reconvened to record a version of His Name Is Alive’s “The Dirt Eaters” for the 4AD compilation Bills and Aches and Blues. Two years later the Breeders toured to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Last Splash, appearing at Coachella and Riot Fest and supporting the Foo Fighters, Belly, and Horsegirl. September 2023 brought a remastered reissue of Last Splash drawn from the original analog tapes and featuring two previously unreleased tracks from those sessions: “Go Man Go,” co-written by Pixies’ Black Francis, and “Divine Mascis,” a take on “Divine Hammer” with J Mascis on lead vocals.
Albums
Singles
