Kim Deal

marta014@yahoo.com (Marta) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:59:00 -0400

ICE QUEEN: Kim Deal (born Kimberly Ann Deal)
BAND: Pixies, The Breeders, The Amps
ORIGIN: Dayton, Ohio (USA)
GENRE: Alternative rock
ACCOMPLICES: Pixies: Frank Black, Joey Santiago, David Lovering; The Breeders: Kelley Deal, Tanya Donnelly, Josepine Wiggs, Jim McPherson, Carrie Bradley, José Medeles, Mando Lopez (these last two on the current lineup along with Kelley); The Amps: Jim McPherson, Luis Lerma, Nate Farley.
DISCOGRAPHY: Pixies: "Come On Pilgrim" (1987), "Surfer Rosa" (1988), "Doolittle" (1989), "Bossanova" (1990), "Trompe Le Monde" (1991), "Pixies at the BBC" (1998), "Complete B-Sides" (2001); The Breeders: "Pod" (1990), "Safari" EP (1992), "Last Splash" (1993), "Head To Toe" EP (1994), "Live in Stockholm" (1995), "Title TK" (2002), "Mountain Battles" (2008); The Amps: "Pacer" (1995).
INFLUENCES:

IMHO: I discovered The Breeders in college. I saw a girl wearing a t-shirt with the Last Splash record cover on it, which I always thought it was a strawberry. I must say I have discovered a lot of music because I saw an album cover I liked, the most notorious examples being Portishead and Elastica. I saw the cover of Last Splash and thought "now there is something I have to listen to". I can't remember what we listened to at that point, but we were probably at the birth of the Brit Pop phenomenon, Pixies, Smiths, etc. I've probably mentioned it ten thousand times in this blog, but the year 1994 was the biggest musical year of my life. Blah blah nostalgia etc. So in that year I discovered The Breeders thanks to a t-shirt. That's why cotton is so important in our lives. I soaked Last Splash, Pod, Head to Toe, Safari... anything I could get my ears on. I liked Kim Deal because she was cool. Her band was cool. Her music was cool. I could be totally wrong, but it was one of the first indie all-girl-except-for-the-drummer bands (the Throwing Muses too). And they rocked! So that's pretty much it. I see that they are publishing a new album in 2008 and that gives me hopes I'll see them live again.

I actually just saw them live again this past weekend! Read my droolings in the section below.

I know at least two songs inspired on this muse, which are "Cool as Kim Deal" by The Dandy Warhols and "Ohio Girls" by Spanish indie band El Inquilino Comunista. Do you know any others?

FAVORITE SONG: "Gigantic" (with Pixies), "Saints", "Doe", "Safari", "Do You Love Me Now?", "No Aloha", "Tipp City", "Overglazed", "It's The Love", "German Studies" and so forth
FAVORITE ALBUM: Hmmm, so hard to decide...

SEEN THEM LIVE:
The Breeders: February 11th, 2002 and August 1st, 2002. Both times at the Bowery Ballroom, NYC. The Breeders came twice to NY that year, first to present "Title TK" and then to squeeze the juice out of it. I went to see both shows, and they can squeeze my juice all they want, because I adore them. I remember Kelley Deal came out to the stage with a pink feather handbag and a 2-litter Mountain Dew bottle. Kim is so passionate about her music that is a pleasure to see her perform. And the drummer they had with the black thick glasses rocked too! For me it was so great to see in person these people I had idolized in my early twenties... I don't care if their glam-and-glitz years are all gone: seeing them in the flesh being who they are was really great. I hope they keep touring because I will continue to go see them.

I saw them again, and twice! this past weekend! July 12th and 13th, 2008. First, at the Starland Ballroom, in Sayreville, NJ. I missed the Webster Hall show last june due to a work conflict, so I found this show conveniently scheduled on a Saturday, and my friend Annie, my husband and I got in a car and went to see them! It was a great venue, because it was fairly small and we were literally on the first row by the fence, and no pushing, no trampling. It was pretty much like they were giving a show in their living room, and the feeling was awesome. It seemed like the band felt comfortable too, and Kim didn't leave the stage during the encore break, she stayed and played the drum riff from Shocker in Gloomtown with drummer José Medeles on the guitar. I will never forget this show. They have a 2nd guitarist for the road shows, "her name is Cheryl, and she is from Florida" -Kim dicit.
The second show, The Breeders at McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn. It was a free show, so you can imagine the pool filled up with people who were there for the music and people who were there for the pool party, which is a total opposite feel to last night's intimate show. They played the same songs as the day before, but I enjoy any energy I can get from KD. I absolutely love this band.

Pixies: November 30th, 2004. Mullins Center, Amherst, MA. It was spine-chilling to see the Pixies (the Pixies!) live at their alma matter, UMass. Yeah, they have some more pounds and less hair than in the last decade, but they rocked my nostalgia.

WHAT OTHERS SAY: I had no idea about this, which I found at wikipedia: "The Breeders are an American rock band, formed in 1977 as a folk rock duo featuring twin sisters Kim and Kelley Deal of Dayton, Ohio which played country covers at truck stops and bars and dissipated in the early 80's. only to be revived as a side project in 1988 for Kim who by then was playing bass for Pixies and Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses."

Ice Queens - Kim Deal

Kim Deal