A defining album of the 90s, Last Splash by The Breeders turns 30 this year. To celebrate, the band have returned to the original tapes to give it its first-ever remaster, and by doing so have also unearthed two lost tracks that will delight fans.
Recorded by the ‘classic’ Breeders line-up of Kim Deal, Kelley Deal, Josephine Wiggs and Jim Macpherson and featuring singles ‘Cannonball’ and ‘Divine Hammer’, Last Splash was “an alt-rock classic” (Pitchfork’s Top 100 Records of 1990s) on release; a fast seller too, quickly attaining Platinum status in the US.
Despite having had the boxset treatment on its 20th birthday, the album was still left to be remastered so 10 years on, the original ½” tapes were taken out of the archives and have been lovingly worked on by Kim Deal, Benjamin Mumphrey and Miles Showell (Abbey Road).
Never sounding so good, it means for its 30th anniversary the album is getting the ultimate vinyl pressing. Entitled Last Splash (30th Anniversary Original Analog Edition), this new version has been cut at half speed at Abbey Road by Miles Showell, now spanning two LPs and running at 45rpm.
Furthermore, this anniversary edition also contains an exclusive, one-sided etched 12” which excitingly features two brilliant and previously unreleased tracks – ‘Go Man Go’ and ‘Divine Mascis’ (‘Go Man Go’ is a track that Kim co-wrote with Black Francis while ‘Divine Mascis’ is a different version of ‘Divine Hammer’ with Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis on lead vocals). Both tracks originate from the original sessions and were left forgotten until the sessions were exhumed to create this new master.
The attention to detail continues to the album’s art, which equally celebrates Vaughan Oliver’s iconic sleeve. With Vaughan sadly no longer with us, his long-time design partner Chris Bigg has gloriously reimagined the album’s sleeve for this new version. Coming in a beautiful wide-spine sleeve, there’s also a nod to other classic 4AD records with a 10” lyric booklet being created which also unseen portraits from the original album shoot by Kevin Westenberg.
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Track List
A1. New Year
A2. Cannonball
A3. Invisible Man
A4. No Aloha
B1. Roi
B2. Do You Love Me Now?
B3. Flipside
C1. I Just Wanna Get Along
C2. Mad Lucas
C3. Divine Hammer
C4. S.O.S
D1. Hag
D2. Saints
D3. Drivin’ on 9
D4. Roi (Reprise)
12”
A1. Go Man Go
A2. Divine Mascis
Tour Dates
In honour of the album’s 30 years, the band will be hitting the road in September for a special run of shows performing Last Splash in its entirety. They will be joined by Belly (formed by original Breeder Tanya Donelly), Screaming Females and Horsegirl in select markets.
August
3rd – Knitting Factory, Boise ID, US
4th – Spokane Arena, Spokane WA, US *
6th – Wildlands Festival, Big Sky MT, US
8th – USANA Amphitheatre, West Valley City UT, US *
10th – Lake Tahae Outdoor Arena at Harveys, Stateline NV, US *
25th – 26th – Ghost Ranch Music Festival, Abiquiu NM, US
September
7th – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland OH, US ^
8th – KEMBA Live!, Columbus OH, US ^
15th – Riot Fest, Chicago IL, US
17th – Sea.Hear.Now. Festival, Asbury Park NJ, US
19th – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater, Virginia Beach VA, US *
20th – Fillmore, Philadelphia PA, US %
21st – Fillmore, Silvery Springs MA, US %
23rd – Kings Theater, Brooklyn NY, US %
24th – House of Blues, Boston MA, US %
October
3rd – Talking Stick Resort, Phoenix AZ, US *
5th – Don Haskins Center, El Paso TX, US *
6th – 8th – Austin City Limits Music Festival, Austin TX, US
13th – 15th – Austin City Limits Music Festival, Austin TX, US
19th – The Wiltern, Los Angeles CA, US #
20th – Observatory, San Diego CA, US #
22nd – Henry Miller Library, Big Sur CA, US #
23rd – The Warfield, San Francisco CA, US #
25th – Paramount, Seattle WA, US #
* – with Foo Fighters
^ – appearing with Horsegirl
% – appearing with Screaming Females
# – appearing with Belly