25 years ago The Breeders released their classic album, Last Splash featuring the iconic single “Cannonball” and “Divine Hammer”. That line-up included Kim and Kelley Deal on guitar along with Josephine Wiggs on bass and Jim Macpherson on drums. The band broke up soon after but came together for the 20-year anniversary tour. Sparked by that tour, the reformed band released All Nerve in earlier this year.
The album starts out with a fine burst of early 90s alt rock in “Nervous Mary” and first single “Wait in the Car”. The title track is a touching yet messy love song. The album unfortunately peaks here. “Spacewoman” and “Walking With a Killer” are both fine coming off the bench tracks but here they are thrust in the starting line-up and can’t keep up. The rest of the album doesn’t offer up any surprises or standouts. It’s nice to have the band back together but All Nerve is not the record you want to hang out with on a regular basis.
6/10
The Light Appears 