The Breeders @ ABC

What started as a rather muted off-shoot with 1990's Pod album - born from singer Kim Deal's frustrations at her Pixies band-mate Frank Black and his increasing autonomy on song writing duties - has very slowly become Deal's de facto concern. If tales are to be believed, it really is Death To The Pixies this time around as her concentration turns exclusively to The Breeders and Mountain Battles: their fourth album in an 18 year career. Along the way, Kim, her twin sister Kelley and a changing roster of hired hands have crafted the eternal indie-disco classic Cannonball, but a much stronger body of work lies beneath such immediate delights, not least with parent album Last Splash. The only catch may be that images of Kim with cigarette habitually stuck to her bottom lip will, in these health-conscious times, be a thing of the past. The Breeders meanwhile are looking like anything but that. [Darren Carle]