Burning to breed

The breeders, founded by Kim Deal of Pixies' fame, are in Israel.

By DAVID BRINN
breeders 224.88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
breeders 224.88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
'You're kidding. There's going to be a beach outside my hotel?" Kim Deal yelps with the enthusiasm of a 13-year-old, when she learns that Tel Aviv indeed hosts a nifty strip of Mediterranean coastline. However, the 47-year-old alternative rock legend may just be on a natural high brought on by the recent good fortune of her two bands - the Pixies and The Breeders. Not only are the reconstituted '90s grunge-pop Breeders - with Deal's twin sister Kelley on guitar - touring behind an excellent new album, Mountain Battles, which some critics are already including on their 2008 'best of' lists, but the Ohio-based Deal is also reaping the rewards of a wildly successful reunion earlier this decade of The Pixies, the influential band which she co-founded in the late 1980s. The Breeders, though, have always been Deal's main concern since she formed the band in 1989 as a creative outlet during Pixies downtime. Ironically, thanks to 1993's Last Splash and its hit "Cannonball," The Breeders became more commercially successful than the Pixies ever did in their initial incarnation, an outcome that Deal didn't anticipate. 'Cannonball' was mainstream, it hit the mall kids who didn't know who The Pixies were," she told The Post. "It was really weird to have a hit. Of course, we had a certain level of fame in The Pixies, but nothing I had ever done had been mall kid friendly." Most likely it will be hard-core fans who come out for The Breeders' two shows here on August 21 and 22 at Tel Aviv's Zappa club. Deal is looking forward to her first visit to the country, and not just because of the hotel-front beach. "We made sure we're getting there a couple days early so we can see the country. I'm thinking the Wailing Wall and the Dead Sea…" she said. "I'm a little apprehensive about coming to a country that appears to be a religious state. I guess you would consider America to be a Christian country, but it's not really. So I'm sure it will be fine." Doors for the two shows open at 9:30 p.m. with the shows to start at 10:30 p.m. Tickets cost NIS 200 and may be ordered at (03) 767-4646. Zappa's located at 24 Raul Wallenberg St., Ramat Hahayal, Tel Aviv.