Title TK

The problem with The Breeders is that they’ve never really been as good as we’d like them to be.

Blame it on the hopes that a union between The Pixies and Throwing Muses originally raised but right from the start (the largely uninspiring Pod), it’s not been the most thrilling of rides – aside from the marvellous Safari EP and peerless ‘Cannonball’. Yet of such quality are these frustratingly rare moments that we still keep coming back for more.

Title TK is unlikely to break the mould. Its opening moments – ‘Little Fury’ and ‘London Song’ are unquestionably fine and suggest a revival of sorts but by the third track, the directionless ‘Off You’ we’re on depressingly familiar territory.

Recorded by Steve Albini under a philosophy of ‘all wave’ (totally analogue, no computers or digital equipment), Title TK sounds flat and lifeless, only bursting into life on the odd occasion.

The Amps’ resurrected ‘Full On Idle’ is one such moment, a scuzzed up hoe-down, as is closer ‘Huffer’, where the band finally cut lose in a blaze of glorious ‘na na na’ choruses and driving guitars. It’s too little too late though.

While the very combination of Kim Deal’s bass and vocals is still enough to bring a tear to the eye of those of a certain age, there is no escaping the fact that Title TK is a long way short of their own highpoints, the recent work of Tanya Donnelly and Frank Black and our very own Deputy Fuzz.