Pod

The Breeders: Josephine Wiggs (vocals, guitar, bass); Kim Deal, Tanya Donelly (vocals, guitar); Shannon Doughton (vocals, drums); Carrie Bradley (violin); Michael Allen (background vocals). Recorded at Palladium Studios, Edinburgh, Scotland. Somewhat unhappy with their roles as second bananas in their respective groups, Kim Deal (bassist of the Pixies) and Tanya Donelly (guitarist of the Throwing Muses) struck out on their own. The result, after hiring Josephine Wiggs (bassist from the seriously underrated Perfect Disaster) and ex-Slint drummer Britt Walford (who took the name Shannon Doughton for his Breeders-related recordings), was the album POD, which was released in 1990 to great success. A very short record (12 songs in just under 30 minutes), it is a jagged, barbed affair that clearly shows its creators pedigrees. The record's immediately obvious standout is the cover of the Beatles' "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," which far outstrips the original in creeping menace. However, other, more lasting, highlights include "Oh!," with an ever-so-slowly sawing violin; "Hellbound," which abounds in shards of guitar shrapnel and abortion references; the hesitantly exuberant "Fortunately Gone," with Deal's raspy voice and Donelly's sweeter one nicely balancing one another; and "Metal Man," with twin guitars and some lyrical weirdness. The spiky, aggressive pop music of POD is certainly the Breeders' high point--and when they reconvened two years later, much of their jaggedness had been buffed out.