Twenty years after its release, Last Splash, has received the expanded anniversary treatment which is has become so fashionable as of late. And yes, Last Splash still sounds great, being one of the better for the wear chestnuts from the golden age of alternative music. Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” didn’t age so gracefully, sounding as tediously dated as side four of theWhite Album.
So the question which begs to be answered is if your own copy of LS is still in good shape, is this worth shelling out for?
For Breeders fans, absolutely. There’s three-discs with the reissue, adding a slew of cool demos, a 1994 concert and four EPs, including 1994′s Head to Toe and 1992′s Safari, where they cover Sebadoh and the Who, just because they can.
The live album, entitled The Stockholm Syndrome, as it was recorded in Sweden in 1994 during the band’s final European tour,
“Lord of Your Thighs” is an unexpected gem. As is their cover of The Who’s “So Sad About Us.”
There are 44 bonus tracks in total here. Raw, energized, edgy, and begging to see the light of day. And should you choose to blast this over the speakers of your minivan with the kids in tow, you may have to explain there was a time when the term “Alternative Music” actually described something different from most everything else.
There was no one who quite sounded musically like The Breeders, and as a result, much of the music sounds sprightly and fresh. Cannonball was radio ready and the video was rightly in heavy rotation, catapulting the band into the mainstream. But Kim Deal is quick to point out in the liner notes, “This is an indie record.” By an indie band, with an indie mindset. And don’t you forget it mister.