“Mountain Battles” – The Breeders

Rating: 9/10

“Mountain Battles,” the latest release from The Breeders, offers a new spin on standard indie-rock music.

Vocalist and lead guitarist Kim Deal definitely becomes the main attraction of this album. However, Deal’s voice outshines even her presence. Deal’s voice carries a haunting presence, reminiscent of material previously released by that other band Deal plays with, the Pixies. (The Pixies sang “Where is My Mind” at the end of “Fight Club,” in case you forgot.)

“Mountain Battles” begins like most albums with the most up-lifting song at the beginning.

“Overglazed” literally is “overglazed,” with an uplifting, sugary, and lofty melody. It’s a nice icebreaker for the causal listener and serves as a good hook, but lacks in overall content. Still, it’s probably the poppiest (if you can call the Breeders poppy) track on the album.

Following “Overglazed” is “Bang On” which weaves Deal’s harmonious voice with bass, bass and more bass. The final product is a mixture of light and dark for the eardrums.

Other highlights of the album include “German Studies,” where Deal actually sings in German. If you doubt the ability of the German language to sound catchy, then you haven’t heard it sung like this.

The song “Istanbul” bares no similarity to the They Might be Giants tune. This track could best be described as mysterious, but that description does it little justice.

“Walk it Off” ties for second poppiest track, and serves as a nicer uplift in the middle of the album. I only hope I don’t see it soon featured in an Apple commercial. Then, while you’re tasting the previous song, the album ends with “Mountain Battles”, which is more of a whimper than an explosion, but the desire to review the album again is almost undeniable.

Individually, the songs on this album probably couldn’t stand alone aside from a small handful of tracks, but when listened to in one half-hour sitting, the album is a joy to listen to.

Rarely will an album prevent the urge to skip around, but “Mountain Battles” accomplishes the task with a quality tapestry of tracks. If you aren’t sure about “The Breeders,” similar sounds have come from The Beta Band and The Shins. If you have those bands in your iTunes library, you’ll need to listen to “Mountain Battles.”