Last Splash


Last Splash is the second studio album by American alternative rock band the Breeders, released on August 30, 1993. Originally formed as a side project for Pixies bassist Kim Deal, the Breeders quickly became her primary recording outlet. Last Splash peaked at number 33 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and by June 1994, the album had been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments in excess of one million units.
The title of the album is taken from a line in the lyric of its lead single, "Cannonball". The video for "Cannonball" was directed by Spike Jonze and Kim Gordon, and the video for the album's second single "Divine Hammer" was directed by Jonze, Gordon and Richard Kern. A looped guitar sample of "S.O.S." was used by the English electronic music band the Prodigy in their 1996 hit single "Firestarter". A sample from "I Just Wanna Get Along" was used in another track by the Prodigy called "World's on Fire" from the Invaders Must Die album.
In 2003, Pitchfork listed the album at number 64 on their list of the Top 100 Albums of the 1990s. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 293 in their revised list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. On May 13, 2013, 4AD released LSXX, a deluxe 20th anniversary version of the album, and on September 22, 2023, 4AD released Last Splash , with additional tracks "Go Man Go" and "Divine Mascis".

Composition

Last Splash has been categorized as alternative rock, as well as indie rock, noise pop and "effervescent" pop rock. It is also considered "wildly", "willingly" experimental, sporting art rock textures, "pure", "twisted" pop, and Hawaiian surf music. The latter genre is seen in the "tiki bar twang" of "No Aloha" and the "gonzo" surf rock of instrumental "Flipside". "I Just Wanna Get Along" takes on "spiky" pop-punk, while cover "Drivin' on 9" pulls in acoustic and country sounds.

Legacy and impact

Dubbed one of the "most enduring masterpieces" of alternative rock, Last Splash has been praised for "perfectly encapsulat all that was great and wonderful" about the genre's explosion in that era. Nashville Scenes Sean L. Maloney saw Splash both " the zeitgeist into perfect alt-pop nuggets", but also serve as "the last gasp of alternative music as an actual alternative to the mainstream". The Quietus Emily Mackay considered it "a key album" for the genre's mainstream crossover.
In a retrospective review of it 20 years on, Stereogums Tom Breihan called it "a warm, homemade, deeply and consciously odd" record.

Accolades

Track listing

Original 1993 release

''LSXX'' track listing

There are two versions of LSXX: a 3-CD package and a 7-disc vinyl set. The CD and vinyl formats have the same track listings.
The vinyl set contains the following vinyl:
  1. Last Splash
  2. "The Stockholm Syndrome"
  3. Demos, rare tracks & session versions
  4. Safari EP
  5. Cannonball EP
  6. Divine Hammer
  7. Head to Toe EP
The track listing below is for the 3-CD set. All songs are by Kim Deal except where noted.
'Disc 1 – Last Splash'''''

Personnel

The Breeders
Artwork
Additional musicians
Production
  • Kim Deal – producer
  • Mark Freegard – production, engineering
  • Sean Leonard – assistant engineering
  • Daniel Presley – engineering on "Divine Hammer"
  • Andy Taub – assistant engineering

    Chart positions

Chart Peak
position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart22
Canadian Albums Chart44
Dutch Top 10041
German Albums Chart68
Swedish Albums Chart43
UK Albums Chart5
US Billboard 20033
Chart Peak
position
New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart11
Chart Peak
position
Croatian International Albums 15

Singles

Certifications