Kim vs. Kurt

Twenty years later, the four reasons why the Breeders’ Pod was (and is) more influential than Nevermind

By Dana Raidt
Published: June 20th, 2010 | 9:00pm

Self-professed music experts (read: glossy rags who consider Britney Spears a “woman in rock,” Guitar Center employees, and random D-listers from VH1’s “Most Arbitrarily-Chosen Important Thing of Some Decade” countdown shows) argue ad nauseum that Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind (DGC) changed music forever. Yet Pod (4AD), the Breeders’ 1990 debut album, remains largely ignored in the music industry despite being a major influence on countless fans and musicians (Kurt Cobain among them).

Before she became the patron saint of real-girl coolness, Breeders frontwoman Kim Deal was the bassist in the Pixies. Frustrated by her exclusion from songwriting duties, Deal decided to record her own songs and recruited Throwing Muses’ Tanya Donnelly, Josephine Wiggs of the Perfect Disaster, and (on a recommendation of engineer Steve Albini) Britt Walford of Slint on drums. Using a name under which she and twin sister Kelley (who later joined the band) performed as teenagers, Deal forever changed ideas of what defines rock music—particularly a female-led rock band.

May 28 marked the twentieth anniversary of Pod, however nary a press outlet (or even a blog!) has seemed to care. Despite widespread passive admiration for the record (in 2003 Pitchfork named it #81 of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 1990s, calling it “a blissful mindfuck”), Pod, and Deal, have never really gotten their due credit. Yes, Nevermind is important. But there is something wrong when, 20 years later, the music world still virtually ignores (or at most, mentions in passing) the work of a woman who Cobain himself probably believed deserved the “influential” label more than his own band.

So without further ado, here are four reasons Pod was—and is—more influential than Nevermind:

Superior Songwriting: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is catchy, but that’s because it’s basically a rip-off of Boston’s “More Than a Feeling.” Cobain at one point even described Nirvana’s sound as “the Knack and the Bay City Rollers being molested by Black Flag and Black Sabbath.” Extra reverb and feedback added to regurgitated pop and punk does not a revolution make. Pod came out of left field, but had just enough similarity to the Pixies for the listener to be able to put it into context. Songs like “Glorious” and “Iris” were strikingly sparse, while “When I Was a Painter” and “Fortunately Gone” were catchy but maintained an intimacy rarely found in pop music. Whereas Nevermind “rocked” enough (to use the vernacular of the era) to be accessible on the first listen, Pod was engaging enough to really get under the listener’s skin. Would you rather have a pretty decent one-night stand or a fulfilling relationship that remains interesting over the years? (That’s what I thought).
Albini Approval: Humble Steve Albini, who recorded Pod, considers it one of his greatest works. That means a lot coming from a guy who has engineered hundreds of albums by dozens of influential bands. By the way, that “unique” drum sound on Nirvana’s In Utero that dudes in bands always talk about? Nirvana had asked Albini to recreate the drum sound from Pod because they loved it so much.
Artwork: Especially notable for a mostly female band, there are no pictures of Deal, Donnelly, or Wiggs within Pod’s liner notes—the music was forced to stand alone. Despite some questionable typographical choices (a crime Nevermind is also guilty of), Pod’s abstract art is much more visually interesting than a chubby baby in a pool and the stereotypical rock band group shot.
Depth of Influence: Everyone from bar bands to rappers claims to be influenced by Nevermind, but just because you like something doesn’t necessarily mean it influenced you. I’ve read every Baby-sitters Club book multiple times, but that doesn’t mean that my writing has been “influenced” by a bunch of middle school students watching their neighbors’ kids after school (no disrespect, Ann M. Martin). Even today, artists credited with somehow reinventing music as we know it (Owen Pallett, Anni Rossi, Ariel Pink, and Joanna Newsom to name a few) have discernable sonic ties to Pod.

In the end, Nevermind is a case study of a perfectly executed marketing strategy, not of groundbreaking music. Everything about Pod, from song structure to instrumentation to lyrics, challenged existing perceptions. Nevermind, while an excellent album, is the post-punk equivalent to classic rock. Nirvana’s particular variation on the tried-and-true formula of guitar + bass + drums + three chords + pop hook has become an easy musical landmark for those too lazy to look at music beyond the terms of charts, fashion trends, or record sales. Its impact was a quantifiable effect on the record industry; Pod’s was an infiltration of hearts and brains.