This wrap of reveals round Melbourne features a five-star gig by The Breeders at Discussion board Melbourne, and Louis Tomlinson on the Sidney Myer Music Bowl
MUSIC
The Breeders ★★★★★
The Discussion board, January 29
The Breeders, est. 1989, emerged from the American grunge/indie panorama with a fiercely undefinable identification. At their sold-out present on the Discussion board on Monday evening, they demonstrated the years haven’t dampened them, and their clever, wry post-punk nonetheless transcends style and period.
The Breeders carry out at Discussion board Melbourne on January 29, 2024.Credit score: Richard Clifford
The essence is Kim Deal, the guitarist, vocalist and principal songwriter. At all times under-served by her different band, The Pixies, Deal’s songwriting and presence take centre stage in The Breeders.
In recent times, the band’s shifting lineup has settled again into that of their magnum opus album, Final Splash, which marked its thirtieth birthday in 2023. The quartet performed a lot of the album throughout the evening, transposed throughout the many years with tough edges intact. Notes had been dropped. Atonal chords nestled amongst candy melodies. To listen to gamers so attuned to at least one one other however nonetheless so open to looseness was a pleasure.
Breeders songs are tense little knots of wire, oddly-structured and continuously quick, with Deal’s still-effortlessly cool, breezy vocals woven by means of. I don’t imply “cool” in a disaffected surly rockstar manner – she is completely herself, typically grinning by means of her poetically indirect lyrics. “When Iris sleeps over / What a guide she’ll write,” cries Deal on Iris. “Noticed it on the wall / Motherhood means psychological freeze / Freezeheads”, she breathes on No Aloha.
Breeders songs are tense little knots of wire, oddly-structured and continuously quick, with Deal’s still-effortlessly cool, breezy vocals woven by means of.Credit score: Richard Clifford
Sure, this materials is nearly completely 30 years previous. However songs like “Invisible Man”, “Divine Hammer” and the slippery and sensible “Cannonball” sound as contemporary as ever.
Deal’s voice stays candy and potent, and her cool transcendent and timeless. Living proof, the corporate she retains: in Melbourne The Breeders are supported by a few of the metropolis’s best, MOD CON and Cable Ties, and in New York in a couple of months they’re supporting pop celebrity Olivia Rodrigo. All owe Kim and co. a debt.
Reviewed by Will Cox