reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » The Breeders - Mountain Battles

Everybody loves to remember how much fun “Cannonball” and parts of Pod were. Nobody, however, is going to love being reminded that at least half of The Breeders' back catalog (and pretty much everything its principles did outside Pixies and Belly) is mediocre at best, and unfortunately, that's what Mountain Battles does. The lightly clamoring opener “Overglazed” sounds interesting, and builds a sweet tension that releases nicely into the bouncing, quintessentially Breeders-esque “Bang On.” Too much of what follows, though, is strangely unenthusiastic and unexpectedly quiet. The group has always had a loose, fuck-it-that's-cool-let's-use-it vibe, that here collapses into a sense that they're just trying to fill up the CD. “German Studies” and “It's the Love” manage to reclaim not only a bit of their earlier glee, but also what good lo-fi indie-rock sounded and felt like back in the day. And then that's it; the title track closes things out not with a bang, but a whimper. Maybe it's meant to sum up The Breeders perfectly: a handful of great songs, a whole bunch of not-so-great songs that only inspire you to go back and listen to the great ones repeatedly, and an uncertain ending. – Scott Harrell