The Breeders – Last Splash: 30th Anniversary Edition (45rpm Vinyl 2LP + 12″) * * *

The Breeders’ Last Splash Reissued for Its 30th Anniversary on 45rpm Vinyl 2LP + 12″. Cut at Half Speed at Abbey Road by Miles Showell.

A defining album of the 90s, Last Splash by The Breeders turns thirty 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 1⁄2” 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, the album for its 30th anniversary, it’s getting the ultimate vinyl pressing. Entitled Last Splash (the 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.

This edition contains an exclusive, one-sided etched 12” which features two 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