Kim is perhaps most famous for her role as the bassist of The Pixies, but in their interview, the Deals requested that they not discuss The Pixies, Francis Black, or the messy breakup of the band in the early 90s. Instead, they focused on Kim and Kelley's sobriety and how it has affected their music. (Both twins are veterans of rehab.) "Best thing I ever did," said Kim jokingly, "What people don't tell you is the energy it gives you. It reminds me of when me and Kelley first started playing the bars, or when me and the boys first started the Pixies. Feeling the energy in your bones when you started writing a song, getting to practise without already being drunk and high." Kelley agreed: "What everyone forgets is that the musicians we always associate with being drunk or high - Jim Morrison for instance, or Jimi Hendrix - it's often their sober album that people loved the best."

They also touch briefly on the issues facing women in rock. Kim calls the early 90s a very "boy-oriented time. Hardcore was big again in America and girls weren't allowed into it." The twins also recall growing up in the late 70s in Dayton, Ohio, where punk was ignored in favor of metal. "Girls were supposed to be sexy whores in white pants - they weren't allowed to rock," Kim said. Interestingly, Kim shifts her focus from discussing the sexification of women in rock to a brief foray into the problem of male exploitation. She says that despite the macho culture of the 90s (or maybe because of it), men were often treated with as little respect as their female counterparts:

"People talk about girls being asked to put their fingers in their mouths in the name of pop, but no one looks at the Red Hot Chili Peppers' picture with socks on their dicks and says anything." She shrugs energetically. "This girl-and-boy thing is way more complicated than that."

'It Used to Be About Music. Now, Without The Drink, It's Good To Go Back To That' [Guardian]

• Oh, yikes. According to Stephanie Pratt her brand new sister-in-law, Heidi Montag wants "four boys, four Spencer Pratts!" Creepy flesh colored beard enthusiasts across the country are no doubt celebrating this slightly terrifying news. [USWeekly]

• Despite negative reviews, Wolverine topped the box office with 34 million dollars on Friday. [E!]
• Actress Missi Pyle recently wed naturalist Casey Anderson, and the best man was Brutus, an 800 pound Grizzly bear that Anderson has raised from birth. Wonder where they got the tux rental? [DailyExpress]
• "I'm quite honestly getting seriously fed up with being falsely connected with several men on Page Six: Josh Hartnett, Heath Ledger, and now it is insinuated (we all know what 'befriended' means on these pages!) that Sean Penn is another. There has never been any intimacy between myself and any of these men, and I want this cleared once and for all."-Helena Christensen [PageSix]
• Mine That Bird a 50-1 shot, emerged victorious at the Kentucky Derby yesterday. [NBCSports]
• Christina Applegate has been selected as People's Most Beautiful Person of 2009. [ONTD]
• "I'm definitely not paying attention to my pregnancy. That won't be true for the child [when it arrives]. But now, when you have two kids running around you're not the pregnant person you were before." -Elisabeth Hasselbeck [People]
• Comedian Robert Schimmel has been arrested on suspicion of beating his wife. [NYTimes]
• Nicole Richie has blogged about the girl group she was in when she was 13 or so. "Our name? get ready… CAUTION!," she writes, "And I even remember part of our rap. I'm getting chills of embarrassment even typing this. The rap lyrics I remember were: Caution! Walking down the street.You better watch out, and step to the beatPlaying our music from town to town Rockin' and Rollin' were [sic] gonna get down!"[JustJared]
• "It was a town of hair metal and we hated it. Girls were supposed to be sexy whores in white pants - they weren't allowed to rock. We played in bars and ignored what people said. After all, we knew that the people who thought they were badass didn't rock at all!"-Kim Deal [Guardian]
• Hugh Jackman is desperate to bring a Carousel film to the screen, and hopes to get Anne Hathaway to join him. "I've been looking to do a musical film for some time and after things like Moulin Rouge!, Chicago and Hairspray, I think there's a real opportunity there," Jackman says, "I've been filling up [Hathaway's] answering machine with messages about Carousel." [DailyExpress]
• Halle Berry, who has apparently forgotten the mess that was Catwoman, says she'd be interested in an X-Men spinoff featuring her character, Storm. "I think that would be great," Berry says, "Storm deserves her own movie - if I can still fit into the suit."[JustJared]
• "I'm in AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) now, too. I've had drinks, but it has been a levelling-out process. Am I an alcoholic? I may not be. I don't know. But I also know that, in the situation I'm in, with temptations what they are, I have no room for alcohol in my life."- Shia LeBeouf, keepin' it anonymous. [DailyExpress]
• Madonna and Demi Moore have reportedly bonded over the fact that they both have "younger lovers." "Demi has been really supportive of Madonna in her relationship with Jesus," says a source, "She knows more than anyone how great it is to date a younger guy and hopes they can make it last." [DailyMail]
• Meanwhile, the biological father of Mercy James, the Malawian girl that Madonna is trying to adopt, says that he wants to raise Mercy in her own culture. "I want to take care of her, and I'm capable of taking care of my baby. Mercy, she is a Malawian, so [I] need her to grow as a Malawian ... with our culture." [People]
• Rihanna is moving on, and has rekindled a teenage romance with Negus Sealy, much to the delight of her loved ones. "The family are delighted about her seeing Negus again," says a source. [ShowbizSpy]
• Dennis Rodman's wife attempted to stage an intervention, but Rodman wasn't interested. "He wouldn't go because he doesn't want to miss the taping of the 'Celebrity Apprentice' reunion," says a source. Rodman's rep replied: "Yes, they tried an intervention but, unfortunately, Dennis refused to go. We all know how amazing he is when sober, and we hope he gets there soon." [PageSix]
• Sting's daughter, Coco Sumner is currently in the intensive care unit after falling outside of a restaurant and fracturing her skull. "‘Coco went flying and landed with a real crash. She really took a tumble.One of the waiters helped her to her feet but she complained that she didn't feel well," says a source, "She hadn't had anything to drink and it happened quite early into the evening." [DailyMail]
• Kate Moss and Jamie Hince are on the rocks again, after Kate discovered that Jamie had "struck up a friendship" with another woman while on tour. [DailyMail]
• Are Victoria and David Beckham getting ready to leave the States for Milan? "Victoria is going off LA and was embarrassed that her designs didn't take off there," says a source, "They did well in the UK and she accepts that Europe is a better market for her." [DailyMail]
• "I would also be just as happy with a new women. I'm not complicated, I sing about love in all its shapes, forms and colors. I speak my mind, I sing about everyday stuff such as homosexuality and sadly the homophobia that always comes with it.Famous female singers tend to moan and whine a lot about being famous. Damn, I'm Pink and my bank account hasn't seen a red zero for a long time, and I can do what I love best-sing. Isn't that something that makes life better?"-Pink [ShowbizSpy]

The Breeders success has always been painted by rock critics as a 90s anomaly. It all started when the Pixies fell apart in the early 90s, which was due, in part, to Kim's mounting popularity. Some say that lead singer Frank Black couldn't handle being second banana, and so Kim struck out on her own, forming a rag-tag band which eventually included her identical twin sister Kelley, who was working as a computer programmer and had never played guitar before. According to Ethan Smith, who wrote a telling and entertaining profile of the Breeders for the Times Magazine when they released Title TK in 2002, "In most musical eras, this would hardly be a recipe for chart-topping success. But courageous amateurism was all the rage in the early 90's. In their quest for authenticity, fans and record executives alike were seeking underdogs to make into heroes."

Well, it's 2008 now, and a love of ballsy dilettantism has been replaced by a vocoder nation. When I arrived at Brooklyn's McCarren Pool for the Breeders show yesterday, I expected a bunch of fellow 90s enthusiasts who remembered when Last Splash was a big hit in 1993 and wanted to worship (and reminisce) at the altar of the sisters Deal. Instead, I found a park filled with 19-year-olds in unholy hybrids of short shorts and mom jeans (see fig. A at the bottom of this post).

It was hot, and even the snuggly confines of the free-booze filled VIP section couldn't make up for the sun's unyielding rays on our aged flesh. My friends and I ended up putting a makeshift tarp over our heads and offering sunblock to scantily clad and quickly reddening youngins like the crazy old ladies that we were. We got there around 3 and the Breeders didn't take the stage until 5:30 or so, which meant that we spent the better part of two hours counting the number of girls wearing rompers (12) and Keds (7) and rompers and Keds (1).

When the Breeders finally came on, we didn't have the energy to push our way to the front of undulating mass at the front of the stage, so we hung back in the shade and listened to Kim and Kelley (fig. B). I was hoping for one of the twins' famous public spats (from the 2002 Times article: "Suddenly the slumber party has become an episode of ''Judge Hatchett.'' Close your eyes and the twins' flat-accented, not-quite-identical altos — a source of fascinating musical effects on disc and stage — sound like one extremely unhinged woman on the brink of wringing her own neck.") but the Breeders' performance was smooth and professional. Though after decades of hard living, at 46 they're looking a little worse for the wear, Kim's clear and femme voice sounded the same as it ever did, which is to say occasionally transcendent. Most of the romper-clad audience didn't appear to be superfans like me, but they certainly appreciated the rock that Kim and co. were slinging almost as much as they appreciated self-consciously watching each other's outfits.

We left early, before the encore, because we didn't want to have to wait in the endless line that would undoubtedly form at the park's exit. I was happy to see that the hipster masses would still congregate in droves to hear Kim Deal, but I can't say I loved the show. I'm too old and cranky to deal with the crowds and the smell and the lines and the rancid portapotties. This was the second time I'd seen the Breeders. The first time was in 2002. What's remarkable about Kim Deal is that through several different band changes and life changes, she's been remarkably consistent. She still makes the same lo-fi, stripped down rock and keeps the same unkempt, fuck-you image that made her a commercial success in 1993. Though critics might not know what to do with aging female rock stars, female rock stars know what to do with themselves: keep making music.

Wait! One more thing. 40something female rock stars keep making music, but they also revive amazing flame wars in glossy magazines with similarly aged dude rockers. "You know, [Pavement’s Stephen] Malkmus is being a bit of a bitch in interviews recently," Kim said in April to Time Out. "One thing he said last summer referred to me as 'trashy mouth.' And he just did this article in Spin where he alluded to me unpleasantly, saying [something like], “You know, I always thought that Pavement could have had one of those big hits in the early ’90s with ‘Cut Your Hair,’ but I guess people preferred ‘Cannonball.’…God, man, “Cut Your Hair” isn’t as good of a song as 'Cannonball,' so fuck you. How’s that? Your song was just a’ight, dawg." Kim, I might be too old and lame to like concerts, but you're still my hero.

Fig. A: a denim romper:

Fig. B: our crappy, old lady view from the back of the crowd:

She Is a Punk Rocker [New York Times Magazine]
Cool As Kim Deal [Village Voice]
The Hot Seat: Kim Deal [Time Out New York]

Relateed: Rompers, Jellies, And Denim: A Summer Sunday In Williamsburg [Style.com]