The Breeders

Mountain Battles
(4AD)

“Overglazed” — Stoner intro; repeats “I can feel it.”
“Bang On” — Clean, Pod-era funk jazzercise workout jam.
“Night of Joy” — Trippy Free Design/Carpenters Pod-era, sounds like The Cardigans if Liv Ullmann had been their singer.
“We’re Gonna Rise” — Slow-burning slow-core, sister harmonies.
“German Studies” — Like walking around in the dark, vocals everywhere. Really in German? Extra creep.
“Spark” — Crawls sexy.
“Istanbul” — Melodica? Harmonica? Melonica? My favorite already. Exotica. Duh. Cheerleader raps? Wow.

“Walk It Off” — It’s a hit. NY attitude, dude.
“Regalame Esta Noche” — Mid-’60s country = Freddie Fender … Wait, what’s going on here?
“Here No More” — Gorgeous sister harmonies. Everly bratz.
“No Way” — A rock song.
“It’s the Love” — Another hit, poppoppoprockrockrock.
“Mountain Battles” — Letting the air out of the tires

c. 2008 LEO Weekly

Destroyer

Trouble in Dreams
(Merge)

Poor Dan Bejar. The hirsute Canadian should have been a fiery Latin. Not to get all cliché on that ass (though white people do do this), but Bejar is a passionate, passionate man whose lust for words, women, his own always just-out-of-reach ambition, and its unattainable goal — The Perfect Song — burns burns burns.
Listening to what begins to seem like the same nine-minute epic over and over reminds me of the scene in Annie Hall, where naïve young Annie falls for the transparently pretentious, self-styled artiste whose interest in the arts is overshadowed by his interest in nailing chicks, man.

Having survived my 20s, painfully, I had to know many guys like this, who teetered on the edge of bipolar disorder. Some could play instruments well, or write or sing like a more glam-inspired Bob Dylan, but most didn't get as far as this fiery Canuck. I guess that counts for something.

c. 2008 LEO Weekly