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Kim Deal has got as impressive of a rap sheet as anyone in indie rock. Between her legendary time in Pixies and the Deal-sisters-led Breeders, the Ohio native has enough alt-rock classics under her belt to sustain a fruitful touring career for as long as she’s interested in having one. But, as proven on her new debut (!!) solo album, Nobody Loves You More, Deal still has songs in her heart that are desperate to get out — and some quite good ones at that.
While Deal making her long-awaited solo debut at the age of 63 might seem like a strange choice, her reintroduction is bound to be more than welcomed across indie rock circles, as the past few years of alternative-leaning guitar music have wholeheartedly embraced ’90s signifiers. From recent favorites like Wednesday or Momma to the post-reunion Pavement fanfare to the revitalization of genres like slowcore and shoegaze, much of today’s most celebrated rock music derives from a lineage that Deal herself helped guide and grow. Hell, The Breeders even opened for Olivia Rodrigo at Madison Square Garden, proving even rock-interested pop stars take from her work.
As a result, Nobody Loves You More sounds both like it could have been a long-lost session from 1996 and, somehow, perfectly of the moment. If it wasn’t for Deal’s instantly recognizable voice, you could likely convince any given cigarette-smoking indie kid that the electro-rocker “Crystal Breath” or the soaring “Come Running” actually came from an up-and-coming group of twenty-something-year-old Chicagoans.
And it’s not just that melodic guitar lines and tuneful pop experimentation haven’t gone out of style. Deal is able to inject Nobody Loves You More with a remarkably youthful energy. Though nothing on the album serves as a drastic stylistic shift from any of Deal’s previous projects, the performances and production offer a palpable sense of playful exploration. Just because she hasn’t gone full trap-rap like other notable alt-rock bassists named Kim doesn’t mean that she’s phoning it in.
Take the project’s lead single “Coast,” a jaunting, sandy, horn-featuring jam about a wedding band covering Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville.” For as mid-tempo and feel-good as the tune is, its earworm melody and expert construction make it a genuinely exciting listen. Then, there are cuts like “Big Ben Beat” and “Wish I Was,” with the former seeing Deal get as aggressive as ever and the latter reveling in muted immediacy akin to The Velvet Underground. No matter what tone Deal decides to dial into, she absolutely refuses to half-ass it.