The Breeders have shared a previously unreleased version of their “Last Splash” song “Divine Hammer,” featuring Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis on vocals, fittingly titled “Divine Mascis.” It will appear on their 30th Anniversary reissue of the seminal album, which comes out this Friday, September 22nd, via 4AD Records.
“At the time, J Mascis was the guitar god… we sent him the tape to put guitar on, so when it came back and he’s got rid of our voices and just put his vocal on, we were like, ‘Wha?!’ But it’s really cute,” Kelley Deal told Uncut. “There’s a freshness to it, and it’s just so weird. I like his voice and the idiosyncratic way he sings and delivers lines. So I thought it was really neat.”
Kim Deal, Kelley Deal, Josephine Wiggs and Jim Macpherson played their first show together on Friday 19th June, 1992, in a snooker hall behind Warrington Rugby Club in the north of England. Two days later, they supported Nirvana in Dublin and Belfast, and then played at Glastonbury. Back in the US, after playing 27 sold-out shows, they made their way to San Francisco to record “Last Splash”.
Released on August 30th 1993, reviewers described “Last Splash” as, “effervescent,” “blistering,” and “incoherent.” At its centre is the infectiously appealing, instantly recognisable ‘Cannonball’. Propelled in part by the video directed by Kim Gordon and Spike Jonze, the song was voted Single Of The Year by NME. “An alt-rock classic” (Pitchfork’s Top 100 Records of 1990s) upon release, the album quickly attained Platinum status in the UK and the US.
For the reissue of “Last Splash” which has been remastered from its original analogue tapes, and it arrives with two unearthed archival songs, including “Go Man Go.” Back in 2013, the Breeders rang in the 20th anniversary of the LP with the LSXX reissue. To commemorate the 1993 album’s big year, the Breeders are playing the record on tour with support from Belly, Screaming Females, and Horsegirl. Once that wraps up, the Breeders are to perform eight shows with Olivia Rodrigo on her Guts World Tour,
The new version of “Divine Hammer” appears on the band’s 30th anniversary reissue of “Last Splash”
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