The CV guide to Kim Deal

While the likes of NME keep banging on about how “important” rock n’ roll is (like it’s a fucking endangered species or something), how it will “never die” (oh dear I’m feeling sleepy now) and how we have to “choose a side” (whoops I’ve slipped into a coma), I’ve been keeping myself sane by listening to the new tracks that Kim Deal put out last month. They were released with minimal fuss and very little fanfare and, as one would expect, they’re awesome.

 

The NME won’t put Kim Deal on the cover as they’re a bunch of pussies paying lip service to their lords and masters by protecting the “brand”, even though what Kim is doing sounds just as fresh and vital as any of the hacks they’ve been putting on their front covers recently. Some of you may know Kim mainly from her work with the Pixies, but her recorded output goes far beyond her former outfit (she left them last year, probably because the new stuff isn’t really that great) and it is this writer’s opinion that she is one of the most talented musicians and songwriters of her generation, period.

Some of you out there may not be familiar with her other gigs, but don’t worry kids, I’m here to enlighten you.

Kimberley Ann Deal’s best known venture outside of the Pixies was The Breeders, the awesome noise-pop combo who had a breakthrough hit in 1993 with pogo-tastic indie anthem Cannonball, taken off their second album Last Splash. Less well-known is the band’s debut album Pod, released in 1990. It’s a raw, sparse record (thanks in part to production by studio god Steve Albini) and it’s fucking brilliant. Picking a highlight is nigh-on impossible but the album’s second track, Doe, comes awfully dang close;

Last Splash was a warmer, brighter affair which saw them shift some serious units but not long after its release, The Breeders were put on hold for eight years for a variety of reasons. With the Pixies now having acrimoniously parted ways by this point, Kim’s main creative outlet was on ice, but being that one of her career trademarks is Getting Shit Done, No Matter What, she made some great music during this period with her sub-Breeders project The Amps, who released their one and only album, entitled Pacer, in 1995. The track Tipp City was the hit single (kind of) and will make you want to get happy drunk and jump around your bedroom:

A worthy mention also goes to Deal’s beautiful, haunting backing vocals on Sonic Youth’s 1995 single Little Trouble Girl. She even appears in the accompanying video alongside the other great Kim of indie-rock, Kim Gordon:

The Breeders wouldn’t release another studio album until 2002, when Title TK was released to the world (with Steve Albini back at the controls). It’s a divisive album, stripped of all the giddy hooks and catchy choruses that made Last Splash such a hoot but it still has some awesome tracks including the super-creepy, super-stealthy effort The She:

I was lucky enough to see The Breeders at The LA2 (RIP) that same year. At one point they played a killer version of the theme from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Someone in the crowd yelled something unfavourable about Sarah Michelle Gellar, only for Kim to fire back: “She might be a really nice person! YOU DON’T KNOW!” Then they tore through the song and everyone was really happy.

By 2003, the Pixies had been reassembled and grown men and women alike were weeping with joy as they witnessed the awesome spectacle of the fab four in concert. The Breeders were still a going concern, however, and they released their fourth studio album, Mountain Battles in 2004. The stand-out cut for this author is the track Bang On, with its hybrid of indie-rock and scuzzy dance beats.

Fast forward to 2013 and Deal leaves the Pixies in a sudden and virtually unexplained departure. Rather than lick her wounds, conduct lengthy interviews with the music press or issue hyperbolic press releases, Kim simply reverted to standard operating procedure and made brilliant music purely for the sake of it, with tracks that makes the most recent Pixies fare sound lacking by comparison. All the songs are available through the website www.kimdealmusic.com. Her most recent release is a two-track collaboration with singer and actress Morgan Nagler. The track The Root is an absolute stormer which ranks among the best stuff she’s ever done, complete with adorable music video:

Her next collaboration will be with Slint drummer Britt Walford (fun fact: he played drums on Pod and the Safari EP under a number of pseudonyms including – teehee – Mike Hunt), thus ensuring awesome levels of Kimosity in the foreseeable future. God bless you, Kim. Please make brilliant, wonky music for as long as humanly possible.