Breeders "Title TK" -- Thoughts?

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Got this today... I'm halfway through and it sounds exactly like "Pod." Of course the 8 year wait was bullshit -- this album could have been recorded in a weekend. But I'm digging it (I loved "Pod"). Anyone else have thoughts on the first from the clean & sober Deal sibs?

― Yancey, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

They played the Buffy theme when we went to see them, but we left early and didn't catch it.

Haven't heard it but I'm kinda ambivalent.

― Andy K, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Dave Q to thread.

― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yancey, don't toy with my emotions like that.

― David Raposa, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Yancey, don't toy with my emotions like that."

What? I don't understand...

― Yancey, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Toying = saying it sounds like _Pod_; that is, pretty damn freakin' good, which goes against everything else I've heard about the band (live & otherwise) in recent days. I couldn't STAND being let down.

But, then, hey, I have the Internet! Never mind me & my grousing.

― Daver, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Definitely like Pod in that it's very simple and straightforward. Nothing here will surprise you, except that "Full on Idle" is on this album. And it sounds exactly the same as the version on Pacer.

Title TK is a blend of Pacer and Pod I guess. Actually, you already know what this sounds like. It sounds like everything else Kim has ever done, which is good for some, bad for others.

― Yancey, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

two months pass...

Pacer should have been an EP blah blah

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 29 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

eight months pass...

Does anyone care that the Breeders played a small club in Los Angeles last night and were simply grebt? Still cute after all these years, and Kelly's matronly upper arms are so hott I'm confused. Other than the sad evidence of the old alt-rock calcifying into the new classic-rock, a blast was had by all. Really!

― wl (wl), Friday, 14 February 2003 17:37 (twenty-three years ago)

I care! They're playing west coast dates?

But Yancey, Title TK sounds nothing like Pod!

― Paula G., Friday, 14 February 2003 17:52 (twenty-three years ago)

My response was based on hearing it once ages ago. I reviewed (and trashed) the album for Flakmag.com later on (much to wl's chagrin).

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 14 February 2003 18:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Comeback TK.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Friday, 14 February 2003 21:05 (twenty-three years ago)

I just read something -- Pazz and Jop comments maybe? -- that I found completely spot-on about the Breeders: that what recommends them is actually that they've not changed their aims a bit and yet it doesn't sound so terribly less fresh than it used to. Hardly at all, really. How did they manage that?

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 14 February 2003 21:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I just think Pod really sounds like it was made by a completely different band than the post-Pod Breeders. Something about the production, the roomy sound and the way the guitars sound, and most of all the drumming of "Shannon Doughton". Both incarnations have their good points though, and the new album if not great sure isn't as bad as Yanc3y says.

― Paula G., Friday, 14 February 2003 21:24 (twenty-three years ago)

Did you read my review? Yeah, the album was making me angry.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 14 February 2003 21:27 (twenty-three years ago)

No (I was going by your comment about trashing it) but I just did and, jeez, now *I'm* kind of angry. I mean if you put it in your terms -- nine years to produce not very much good material -- and take into account how many fans were waiting to buy a "Breeders" album no matter what it contained...well, it does seem a bit of a con. Or do I mean cop?

― Paula G., Friday, 14 February 2003 21:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, the review was a reaction to my killed expectations more than the record itself (and the fact that that Amps song is on there (I forget the name) still drives me nuts).

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 14 February 2003 21:47 (twenty-three years ago)

ah come on, you were actually waiting for a breeders album? Not that htey were bad, but there was tons of good stuff the past 9 years so it's not like it was such a huge loss. Ned Raggett might say their no MBV.

― g (graysonlane), Friday, 14 February 2003 21:53 (twenty-three years ago)

I didn't buy a single album between Last Splash and Title TK in anticipation. I was paralyzed. I just watched the BreederCam on the web, waiting for Kim and Kelly to stop nodding and to write some new songs. It was the only thing that mattered.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 14 February 2003 21:55 (twenty-three years ago)

Re: reacting to "killed expectations more than the record itself" - but you've now convinced me that huge expectaions + mediocre result *should* tip the critical balance toward *suck*. In other words it's not just a mediocre album by any band, but by one that has all the advantages. But you'll never turn me against the last record we argued about!

― Paula G., Friday, 14 February 2003 21:58 (twenty-three years ago)

yanc i was really just kidding. but i do think it is almopst always noit worth waiting for any particular band to release an album or whtever.

― g (graysonlane), Friday, 14 February 2003 22:01 (twenty-three years ago)

I was kidding too g, but Pod really is one of my favorite records. It's a great pop album.

Was the last album we argued about the Teasers, Paula?

you've now convinced me that huge expectaions + mediocre result *should* tip the critical balance toward *suck*. In other words it's not just a mediocre album by any band, but by one that has all the advantages.

I TOTALLY think this is true. I'm always harder on bands that I love than bands that I have nothing invested in.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 14 February 2003 22:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah - an album that *was* worth waiting for, but maybe didn't seem like it at the time.

― Paula G., Friday, 14 February 2003 22:05 (twenty-three years ago)

At the time it came out, I mean. But in hindsight amazing. You can't deny it!

― Paula G., Friday, 14 February 2003 22:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Wait, that Title TK is amazing? I can't deny that?

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 14 February 2003 22:09 (twenty-three years ago)

NO! Destroy All Human...

― Paula G., Friday, 14 February 2003 22:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Gotcha. I still haven't listened since we talked.

I just listened to "Off You" from Title TK a bit ago, and it is great, I cannot deny it.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 14 February 2003 22:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Well, pretty good anyway. By the way, do you know who Shannon Doughton is/was? I always heard it was the drummer in Slint but then not too long ago someone told me the Slint thing was just a false rumor.

― Paula G., Friday, 14 February 2003 22:26 (twenty-three years ago)

No idea. AMG says Bitch Magnet.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 14 February 2003 22:28 (twenty-three years ago)

In other words it's not just a mediocre album by any band, but by one that has all the advantages. -- Are massive expectations and an automatic skeptical tipping of the critical scale toward "suck" really advantages? I mean, I see what you're saying, but geez.

This, interestingly, is a big critic-vs-fan divide. Critics move a little faster, I think, and thus are pretty unlikely to be impressed by a band that comes back years and years later doing basically the same thing. Casual fans, who aren't racing along down the road, are happier just to get more songs they like. Result: unprecedented numbers of "your reviewer is a stupid trendy snob this album is great" letters for comebacks like this, right?

I don't think Title TK was anything to be mad at. I'm not sure why anyone would have expected the Breeders to get massively amazing during years and years of problems and lineup changes and inactivity. I was just pleasantly surprised that it had some decent songs and didn't sound horribly dated.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 14 February 2003 22:32 (twenty-three years ago)

I actually got a fair split of letters frpm my review between those who agreed completely and those who disagreed. Can I stand behind the anger of what I wrote now? Not at all. I'm a big Breeders fan and I always have been. Shit, I loved the Amps record! I was just hugely let down by that album. I wasn't expecting anything "massively amazing," I just wanted something decent, which I don't think Title TK is (but I know many will disagree).

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 14 February 2003 22:37 (twenty-three years ago)

When I wrote what I wrote, I was trying to get into the nasty all-or-nothing spirit of Yancey's review. But see, his review jolted me into thinking (and I'll let you know after I relisten to Title TK) that not only was I *not* being too hard on the new album, I'd actually been too easy on it. You know, because I wanted to like the new Breeders album, I worked pretty hard at finding things to like about a pretty mediocre record. Whereas I would have given up right away on a similar record by a group I didn't care about. See what I'm saying?

― Paula G., Friday, 14 February 2003 22:44 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm fairly certain that the drummer was Britt Walford from Slint, having been close to that scene way back when.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Friday, 14 February 2003 22:57 (twenty-three years ago)

(much to wl's chagrin)

Eh, not so much. Actually, I hdan't heard the record yet and really liked your review. Still do. I disagree, tho'.

― wl (wl), Saturday, 15 February 2003 03:17 (twenty-three years ago)

Thanks Kerry. You and the olde rumor mill can't be wrong. But hey I listened to Title Tk and it really is poor. The song Yancey loves is okay if only for being slow tempo and having a cool out of place keyboard burp at the beginning. Also okay is the instrumental near the end. I'm putting this in the to trade pile.

― Paula G., Friday, 21 February 2003 20:21 (twenty-three years ago)

I think we have close to the exact same taste, Paula. KISSES!

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 21 February 2003 20:24 (twenty-three years ago)

Ned Raggett might say their no MBV.

I might.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 21 February 2003 20:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh Yancey! My heart is pounding. Why haven't you burst into the Azita thread to sweep me off my feet?

― Paula G., Friday, 21 February 2003 21:17 (twenty-three years ago)

their on-disc versh of the buffy themetune is not as good as nerf herder's, but it wd be silly to mind abt this

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 22 February 2003 11:49 (twenty-three years ago)

four years pass...

i don't know why i haven't posted to this thread. maybe i have. don't think so. Title TK absolutely rocks. Pod is still their best album (i don't know if u can get much better than Iris or When I Was a Painter), but Title TK REALLY has some mind boggling moments, and no really bad ones. also i don't think they're doing the same thing here. they're still the breeders but it's definitely a new take.

― Surmounter, Sunday, 13 May 2007 01:09 (eighteen years ago)

i mean Off You alone, while not a rocker, carries enough credibility, as far as magic goes. she sat down and got magical with that song. um, also Dear Traveler (is that the title? number four?) is inSANE trancey bass stuff. i think both those songs are a refreshed sound from them, and certainly no less "wtf factor" than their earlier albums. this album actually came out to very good reviews at the time. it was like people had almost forgotten about the breeders (never i) and really just couldn't come up with much of a critique: oh yeah, they're good! kindof a thing. made me happy.

― Surmounter, Sunday, 13 May 2007 01:18 (eighteen years ago)

just reading stuff above: Pod is one of my alltime fav records 2, and yes Title TK does sound like it in ways.

― Surmounter, Sunday, 13 May 2007 01:21 (eighteen years ago)

people dismiss, they're amiss.
Amps still kick so much ass in my book.
but, yeah, Off You sorta kills me, esp. on headphones.
those last 2 songs goin into each other also, verah noice

― edde, Sunday, 13 May 2007 17:22 (eighteen years ago)

headphones for Off You are very good. yeah, sorta kills me is right. I am the autumn and the scarlet, i am the make up on your eyes

it really is devestating.

and Pacer is incredible btw, very much a lot

― Surmounter, Sunday, 13 May 2007 22:28 (eighteen years ago)

Pacer/Last Splash/Title TK/Pod

― President Evil, Monday, 14 May 2007 07:53 (eighteen years ago)

Pod/Title TK/4 Song EP/Pod Demos/Pacer/Sassy Magazine/Last Splash

― dlp9001, Monday, 14 May 2007 12:42 (eighteen years ago)

'sassy magazine'????

― edde, Monday, 14 May 2007 16:19 (eighteen years ago)

three months pass...

i just broke this out again. every time i break it out it impresses me even more.

THE SHE
TOO ALIVE
SON OF THREE

basically the first 8 songs are absurdly great. and then u have sinister foxx which is like OK. and then the last 3 songs are beautiful.

i mean WHAT THE FUCK

THIS ALBUM FUCKING RULES. i feel a phase coming on.

― Surmounter, Friday, 17 August 2007 18:35 (eighteen years ago)

just saw that pixies reunion doc (what an awkward band!), featuring kim & kelley working on breeders demos in the tourvan -- never heard Title TK, but I should probably get it ... I think I love pretty much everything Ms. Deal does ...

― tylerw, Friday, 17 August 2007 19:24 (eighteen years ago)

Kelly's matronly upper arms are so hott I'm confused

I'm confused, too. What does this mean?

― Daniel, Esq., Friday, 17 August 2007 21:17 (eighteen years ago)

yea kim is def someone whose work i love in its entirity. not a song i don't.

― Surmounter, Friday, 17 August 2007 23:59 (eighteen years ago)

three years pass...

i tried
i even sent in friends
they did it as a favor cuz i'm not that way

― janice (surm), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 04:56 (fifteen years ago)

my copy of this got nicked by an ex

i don't remember what it's like

― the mandelbrot cassette (electricsound), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 04:58 (fifteen years ago)

u should probably get it

― janice (surm), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 05:02 (fifteen years ago)

it's a wonder, though i wonder if it'll get the remaster treatment 15 yrs from now and i'll think 'that's what it ALWAYS shoulda sounded like'

― 156, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 05:24 (fifteen years ago)

been watching buffy and found myself very pleased to see them playing within an episode, unannounced and seemingly out of fucking nowhere

― oohhh weennnddddyyy weennnddyy what went wrrrooonnnnggg (kelpolaris), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 05:26 (fifteen years ago)

this is a great record & has always been a great record

― gross rainbow of haerosmith (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 05:52 (fifteen years ago)

favorite fucking breeders record. stark, chalky thing from the mouth of nowhere.

― Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 05:54 (fifteen years ago)

also so loud and so sad.

― Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 05:54 (fifteen years ago)

^^ posts of truth

― janice (surm), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 06:01 (fifteen years ago)

this record sounds so so so perfect

― Chaki doesn't have beef with unicorn (stevie), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 09:08 (fifteen years ago)

its a strange odd record. i liked it when it came out, havent listened to it in a long time (must dig it out again) and everybody i knew either hated it or was just befuddled by it. its all feel and mood i guess, like 'pod' in that sense. theres no 'cannonball' or 'drivin on nine' here.

― Michael B, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:19 (fifteen years ago)

'mountain battles' even better i thought

― Michael B, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:19 (fifteen years ago)

My copy has been stuck in my car's CD player since 2002, so the album's legendary status has only grown.

― Gucci Mane hermeneuticist (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:46 (fifteen years ago)

this record is weird. i love the way it ends Sinister Foxx/Forced to Drive/ T and T/ Huffer are all awesome. don't like much else aside from those and Off You, which is one of the most beautiful things ever.

― mizzell, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 13:42 (fifteen years ago)

Off You, with "I am the make-up on your eyes" and whatever that SOUND is (BEYOOOOOO), is classic.

― trippin lookin at my portfolio (billy), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 14:25 (fifteen years ago)

Son of Three always smacks me in the face in the best way

― verhexen, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 14:49 (fifteen years ago)

Great album, great band. Mountain Battles is just about as good, but different.
I love the language exercise songs on Mountain Battles.
Was there a tour video released around the time of Title TK?
There's a video for Son of Three (for instance) on youtube and the song is a little faster and uh dirtier, I guess.

― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 15:04 (fifteen years ago)

this record has some really great songs on it...

― rotting-month story (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 16:06 (fifteen years ago)

kind of surprised to hear haerosmith likes it though...

― rotting-month story (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 17:28 (fifteen years ago)

OFF YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

so good, i kind of never need to hear another Kim Deal song because it's perfect.

― LAMBDA LAMBDA LANDA (Beatrix Kiddo), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 21:29 (fifteen years ago)

i can't even really talk about it anymore

― janice (surm), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 21:30 (fifteen years ago)

My latest theory is that Title TK distills all the stuff I liked from Pod, and drops all the stuff I hated from Last Splash, which explains the divided response. I'm getting iffier and iffier lately about whether even Pod is better...

― dlp9001, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 23:04 (fifteen years ago)

for some reason i have never checked the breeders about beyond this album. i love it a lot, but i've heard it's their worst? that's a lot of hype for their other music.

― marc iv, Thursday, 2 September 2010 04:09 (fifteen years ago)

so weird. this album's reception is like an enigma.

― janice (surm), Thursday, 2 September 2010 04:13 (fifteen years ago)

seven years pass...

Imagine hating on an album that goes from "Off You" to "The She" to "Too Alive"

― the man from P.O.R.L.O.C.K. (Drugs A. Money), Tuesday, 13 March 2018 10:02 (eight years ago)

God this record. Who could ever write and record "Sinister Foxx"? A ticket to the subconscious.

― startled macropod (MatthewK), Tuesday, 13 March 2018 10:14 (eight years ago)

This is still probs my favourite Breeders LP.

― papa don't take no meth (stevie), Tuesday, 13 March 2018 10:38 (eight years ago)

How on earth is this thread 16 years old? This album still feels pretty new to me.

― nate woolls, Tuesday, 13 March 2018 10:50 (eight years ago)

hhhas anyone seen...the iguanaaaaaa?

― J. Sam, Tuesday, 13 March 2018 13:26 (eight years ago)

dumb made for fucking
and missing from the party
that boy's spun out

― na (NA), Tuesday, 13 March 2018 14:20 (eight years ago)

eight months pass...

GRINDCORE LITTLE FURY

― J. Sam, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 18:19 (seven years ago)

super quotable album, tho you could say that about most deal records

― J. Sam, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 18:22 (seven years ago)

DUMB MADE FOR FUCKING

― Bênoit Balls (stevie), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 20:10 (seven years ago)

I KNOW I WILL HAVE SPUN OUT

― Bênoit Balls (stevie), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 20:10 (seven years ago)

torn
(aaaaahh)
toiled and troubled

― J. Sam, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 20:15 (seven years ago)

Swingerrs

― slack thompson (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 12 December 2018 20:25 (seven years ago)

This record is incredible

― chr1sb3singer, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 20:44 (seven years ago)

you get an empty case of whippets and a boyfriend with a beeper

― J. Sam, Wednesday, 12 December 2018 21:15 (seven years ago)

one year passes...

I picked up the 2018 vinyl reissue of this today--felt obligated bc "all wave"--and of course it sounds better than ever. Just an endlessly fascinating album for me, full of weird and wonderful ideas. Today the random bursts of violence on Put On A Side jumped out more than usual. I think Kim Deal has my favorite voice of any human

― J. Sam, Friday, 18 September 2020 02:09 (five years ago)

one year passes...

misery's fun i'm kissing everyone

― J. Sam, Sunday, 10 April 2022 04:08 (four years ago)

slipping through the states to find the static yeah, there's something to believe

All time top 5 KD for me (so probably top 10 anyone)

― assert (matttkkkk), Sunday, 10 April 2022 05:08 (four years ago)

two years pass...

"the she" a #1 song for walking around the house singing out loud to yourself

dumb made for fuckin
and missing from the party

― na (NA), Wednesday, 19 February 2025 16:13 (one year ago)

oh i meant "little fury" duh

― na (NA), Wednesday, 19 February 2025 16:16 (one year ago)

everyone in my circle at the time were all old school pixies fans and were super disappointed with this album.

it was the first new material for me since becoming a fan and i was _completely obsessed_ with the drum sound they got on this album so i played it a lot. i have no clue about audio engineering, so maybe someone with some more proper knowledge has some insights, but even to this day, this albumstill has some of my favorite drum kit sounds for a rock record.

songs are rad, too. NA otm: kim is rarely in a traditional good mood, but some songs on this album are her at her "fuck you idc" best.

― "The Well-Tempered Holophonor by Philip J. Fry" (Austin), Wednesday, 19 February 2025 16:53 (one year ago)

One of my absolute favourite Kim records

― conspiracitorial theories (stevie), Wednesday, 19 February 2025 16:57 (one year ago)

(puts on album for the firat time in years+looks at credits)

oh ya, it's an albini dealie.

― "The Well-Tempered Holophonor by Philip J. Fry" (Austin), Wednesday, 19 February 2025 18:33 (one year ago)

sigh.

the guy knew how to make a rock band in a room sound good.

― "The Well-Tempered Holophonor by Philip J. Fry" (Austin), Wednesday, 19 February 2025 18:34 (one year ago)

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