The Breeders - Title TK (CD)

It may have taken nearly a decade for THE BREEDERS to deliver a follow-up to 1993's critically and commercially acclaimed Last Splash, but Title TK does not disappoint, as Dayton's Deal sisters continue to serve up their brand of oddly patched-together pop. With lo-fi engineering deity Steve Albini manning the board, THE BREEDERS return with a stripped-down sound that manifests itself on off-kilter cuts like "Sinister Foxx" and the shambling, gloriously dissonant "Too Alive."

Although the pace throughout is decidedly low-key, the decidedly tart harmonies the Deals sprinkle throughout Title TK make for a singular listening experience, particularly on the druggy haze of the psychedelic nugget "The She," the plodding "Little Fury," and the rumbling post-grunge that is "Son Of Three." Elsewhere, THE BREEDERS rev up the tempo with a reworking of the cow-punk-flavored AMPS number "Full on Idle" and the newly penned pop-punk nugget "Huffer." Title TK is a welcome return from what could have been one of the '90s great one-shot bands.

Recorded by Steve Albini ALL WAVE: "to record All Wave one must use no computers, no digital recording, no auto-tuning, or any other mainstays of contemporary production... The All Wave philosophy carries through the entire production and mastering process, including mixing, editing, sequencing, post-production..."