Title TK

Nine years after *Last Splash* broke The Breeders wide open to the mainstream, selling more than a million copies, Kim and Kelley Deal returned with three new members and producer Steve Albini (who\'d produced *Pod*, the band\'s first album). As usual, Kim Deal did most of the writing, with the full band contributing to \"Little Fury\" and \"Sinister Foxx.\" Perhaps due to being recorded in a single studio (as opposed to *Splash*\'s multiple locations), *Title TK* has a consistent and intriguing sound. Kim Deal\'s organ work is heard in patches throughout the album, especially on the vaguely hip-hop \"The She.\" A few other errant noises make their way through the excellent \"Off You,\" the album\'s unlikely first single. Kim\'s unusual songwriting style gives the group an idiosyncratic appeal that\'s made even more compelling by the twin sisters\' harmonies. The staggering beats of \"Too Alive,\" the frenetic garage rock of \"Son of Three,\" and the naked background vocals of \"Huffer\" all benefit from Albini\'s austere, deliberately artless and natural production.

Excuses, excuses. Kim Deal's got a million of 'em. How else could she manage to put off releasing her ...

For most of the '90s, the Breeders seemed resigned to being just a part of alternative rock's mythology: a lightning-in-a-bottle success story that helped define the era's sound and spawned a classic single before disappearing into substance abuse and a severe case of writer's block. By the end of the decade, hearing new material from Kim Deal and company seemed about as likely as a new My Bloody Valentine album, so the fact that Title TK, their long-awaited return, exists at all seems more than a little miraculous. In a weird way, the long, long wait for them to resurface works in their favor -- at this point, it's welcome to hear anything from them. After a nine-year (!) wait, a new Breeders album is just a nice addition to what's going on in indie rock instead of its salvation. From its very name, Title TK (journalistic shorthand for "title to come") reflects this: it's a surprisingly low-key, self-effacing return that doesn't feel like an attempt at reclaiming Last Splash's glory. Instead, it blends the stripped-down sounds of Pod and the Amps' Pacer into a collection of strangely intimate, feminine garage rock.

<p>Ronan Keating turns into Michael Bolton, Dot Allison sounds dazed in Madchester and the Breeders flex their punkish muscles. Plus the rest of this week's new pop.</p>