Kim Deal photo by Paula Farr
When an artist has been in the public eye for nearly four decades like Kim Deal, her audience brings a bundle of memories to her shows. In my case, that includes a first encounter in spring 1988 when Pixies were touring with Throwing Muses. In hindsight, it seems unimaginable that such a dream double bill could have been performing relatively unheralded to crowds of less than 1,000 per night. The next couple of years teemed with Pixies gigs and I was there when The Breeders made their UK premier at Warrington. What could not have been anticipated at that time was how their music would surpass anything Frank Black subsequently wrote as a solo artist or for the reformed Pixies. It is a rare case of an offshoot band led by the bassist outperforming the efforts of the original group’s frontman and songwriter. Perhaps my favourite memory was The Breeders setting the ATP Festival at Camber Sands ablaze in the early 2000s and seeing Deal embrace the democracy of that festival where the acts stayed in chalets alongside the punters by being the most enthusiastic (and probably intoxicated) participant in the indie disco taking place at the festival end in the site’s adjoining pub.
That humility might go some way to explaining why it took so long for her to release an album under her own name. The record, ‘Nobody Loves You More’, revealed a hitherto unsuspected side to Deal with her trademark sound enhanced by strings and horns, the accolades it received including Silent Radio’s album of 2024. Knowing the tough economics of touring, the big question was how she would recreate the sound.
Seeing a ten-piece ensemble including trumpet, trombone, cello, violin and a backing singer take to the stage showed no false economies are being taken. Beginning with the album’s gently melancholic title track with Deal’s voice its customary heady mix of honey and tar together with summery brass courtesy of Emerson Borg and Spencer Merk followed by the bright vacation vibe of ‘Coast’ makes for an unusually chilled introduction to the set. ‘Crystal Breath’ adds a more abrasive dynamic before Deal announces that they are going to play the album in order which came as no shock to those who had looked on setlist.fm like eager kids sneaking a peak at their presents. Playing the album in order shows a confidence in the way the tracks fit together perfectly like an intricate jigsaw and the tender ‘Are You Mine?’, a nostalgic waltz as imagined by David Lynch which becomes even more moving with the knowledge that it references caring for her dementia ravaged mother, sits alongside ‘Disobedience’ which has more of her distinctive rumble.
A classic example of a song transformed in a live setting, ‘Bats In The Afternoon Sky’ which is a mere intermission on the album is given new life in its live interpretation with the atmospheric voice of Kate Wakefield, sterling throughout on backing vocals, giving it an eery quality. After the album closer ‘A Good Time Pushed’, Deal pretends that is the end of the show and makes to walk off. Such kidding fits with her approach throughout the evening which also includes a running joke when she introduces the band members and states they are from Canada, a subtle way of disassociating themselves from the US government.
‘Beautiful Moon’, one of her series of singles from 2013, begins the second set and is given a sparse treatment of Deal on acoustic guitar plus cello. Making use of the additional musicians, some vintage Breeders tunes including ‘Safari’ and ‘No Aloha’, which feels like riding a wave, are given new arrangements. ‘Drivin’ On 9’ works especially well, its country reel heightened by the prominence of Susan Voelz’s violin in the mix.
As someone who has written some of the greatest basslines and formulated such an individual style, it is strange to see Deal primarily on guitar but Mando Lopez does a superb job of recreating that style. The interplay between these two and the other guitarist, Rob Bochnik, is one of the evening’s delights with a lot of sonic adventure. Picking up a bass guitar for the first time, Deal asks “Who knew ‘Gigantic’ needed horns?” She is right. As the only Pixies song she wrote and sang lead vocals on, she must have played the song thousands of times. It is understandable and commendable that she would want to meddle with it but this really works giving an extra sense of dynamics to one of the most distinctive songs of its generation.
They encore with a divine pairing of ‘Do You Love Me Now’ and the iconic ‘Cannonball’, another Deal tune that is immediately identifiable from its opening bassline, which in this version is deliriously messy. The horns and strings are less structured but give it a new and rambunctious flavour. It completes a night that will form a whole new set of joyous memories.
Kim Deal is on tour and can be seen at the following venues:
18 June – WOLVERHAMPTON, UK, The Wulfrun Hall
20 June – LONDON, UK, Roundhouse
21 June – ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS, Theater Rotterdam
22 June – BERLIN, GERMANY, Metropol
24 June – ZAGREB, CROATIA, INmusic Festival
I was editor of the long-running fanzine, Plane Truth, and have subsequently written for a number of publications. While the zine was known for championing the most angular independent sounds, performing in recent years with a community samba percussion band helped to broaden my tastes so that in 2021 I am far more likely to be celebrating an eclectic mix of sounds and enthusing about Made Kuti, Anthony Joseph, Little Simz and the Soul Jazz Cuban compilations as well as Pom Poko and Richard Dawson.
