The Breeders' Last Splash - one of the most treasured albums of the '90s alternative rock explosion - will be newly reissued this fall with a small but intriguing selection of bonus material.
The 1993 album was given the deluxe treatment for its 20th anniversary in 2013 - but, it turns out, the original analog tapes could not be located to create that set. In the decade since, they've been successfully located, and in addition to newly-remastered favorites like "Cannonball" and "Divine Hammer" on the new reissue, a pair of unearthed outtakes on the same analog reels will be released for the first time. "Go Man Go," now available as a single, was a co-write between Breeders frontwoman/bassist Kim Deal and Black Francis, her former bandmate in the Pixies. The other track is an alternate version of "Divine Hammer" with vocals from Dinosaur Jr. singer J. Mascis.
Formed as a side project between Deal and Tanya Donnelly of Throwing Muses, The Breeders coalesced into a distinct band in the aftermath of the Pixies' breakup. Deal recruited her twin sister Kelley on guitar, bassist Josephine Wiggs and drummer Jim MacPherson, for a wide-ranging LP combining brazen punk, hook-laden pop, surf rock and even country styling. Lead single "Cannonball," propelled in part by a video directed by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and up-and-comer Spike Jonze, was an unlikely chart hit, just missing the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Album cut "S.O.S." would also find its way into the greater '90s canon when it was sampled on The Prodigy's U.K. techno chart-topper "FIrestarter." A platinum album in its time, Last Splash was cited as one of the decade's best by Pitchfork and one of the 500 greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone.
The Last Splash reissue comes out September 22 as a 3LP set (with the two unheard tracks on a single-sided 12" with etching) or single CD. The vinyl is cut at half-speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road and will be available in black or clear variants. A 10" booklet in the vinyl will contain lyrics and unseen portraits of the band, while the CD will be a Japanese-style mini-replica of the original LP done by Ichikudo Printing Co., Ltd. The Breeders - back to their "classic" line-up since 2013 - will support the reissue with an ongoing series of live dates; having already appeared at Coachella this spring, they'll open for Foo Fighters and will embark on their own headlining dates with opening acts including Screaming Females, Horsegirl and, fittingly, Belly - featuring former member Donnelly.
Pre-order the Last Splash reissue below.
Last Splash (30th Anniversary Original Analog Edition) (originally released as 4AD 61508, 1993 - reissued 4AD 0611, 2023)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
* previously unreleased
- New Year
- Cannonball
- Invisible Man
- No Aloha
- Roi
- Do You Love Me Now?
- Flipside
- I Just Wanna Get Along
- Mad Lucas
- Divine Hammer
- S.O.S
- Hag
- Saints
- Drivin' on 9
- Roi (Reprise)
- Go Man Go *
- Divine Mascis *
Leave a Reply