Considering everything they’ve been through, from the highs of tremendous college-rock stardom, debilitating addiction and the subsequent collapse of their band and their lives, the Deal sisters’ candor is delightfully disconcerting.

Especially now, on the eve of the release of Mountain Battles (4AD), The Breeders’ first record since 2002’s middling comeback effort Title TK, you’d expect 20-year rock vet Kelley Deal’s survival instincts to kick in.

But no, there she is on the line from her home just outside Dayton, cheerfully chattering in her raspy, rapid-fire cadence about the struggles she and her sister/Pixies bassist Kim have weathered, rattling off (attention, stalkers) precise geographical details about where they live (within miles of each other, close to their aging parents), shrugging off the lukewarm reception their last album received.
“I don’t know why Kim’s talking about how there are way more overdubs on this record than ever. She mentioned that when we were doing European press and I remember looking over and thinking, ‘What are you talking about?’ And she’s wrong! Now she’s having to eat her words,” Deal crows excitedly. “I mean, maybe compared to Title TK…”

She quickly shifts into talking about The Breeders’ last tour.

“It ended up being a lot of fun! At the end of that stretch, you know, Kim got into treatment, and I’m glad she did. I think it needed to happen.”

Like everything else about the band — the defiantly early-’90s crunchy guitar sound (beautifully rejuvenated and expanded on Mountain Battles), their anti-digital All Wave recording mandate (sort of like the audio version of Dogme 95), Kim’s decision to camp out in her parents’ house — there’s something decidedly old-school about The Breeders’ public personae. They engage with both media and fans like they’re still living in the zine era.

It works for them. The songs on Mountain Battles are on par with, if not better than, the best material in The Breeders’ canon. Maybe Kim was feeling the afterglow from the love-in that was the Pixies’ reunion, but the writing here is potent and daring enough to make Title TK feel like a blip.
More importantly, there’s a sense of exuberance threaded through even the most melancholy songs: on the creaky “Here No More,” the sisters’ Midwestern country harmonies are buoyed by the umpah-pah of a beefy upright bass; crackly guitar energizes the mournful chord progression of “Night of Joy”; even the Spanish-language lament of “Regalame Esta Noche” has a fascinating otherworldly vibe thanks to the idiosyncratic technique — it’s a little Mexican, a little Hawaiian, a little jazz — of guest Stevie Hufsteter (of Tito & Tarantula).

“I know some people have been, like, weirded out by songs like ‘Istanbul’,” Kelley offers, alluding to the tune anchored on a peculiar spoken-word bit. “But based on the history of the albums we’ve put out, what would make you think it’d be anything other than 40 minutes of really weird shit?”
One major change is the Deal sisters’ decision to record fewer tracks with the infamous Steve Albini.

“He’s a fun guy to talk about,” Kelley admits. “His philosophy is so in-the-moment, which is why he doesn’t fuss around with fussing around. He captures the magic happening when a band plays together.” But Albini’s approach didn’t always work on Mountain Battles.

“Well, Kim has a huge problem with this, but I don’t, and you shouldn’t either, OK?” Deal begins. “See, you know how the All Wave thing means everything’s supposed to be analog? The first 12 tracks are, but if you look at the album art, the title track has a ‘No Wave’ label beside it. I walked into the basement one day, and Kim was fooling around with Pro Tools.”

Heaven forbid! The album closes with that foray into ProTools weirdness, and it’s a fitting coda — creepy and fuzzy, with ghostly noises floating through an agonized haze. Not to get psychoanalytic, but the track feels a bit like the sisters’ collective exorcism of their demons. Kelley sounds like someone who’s literally been given a new lease on life.

“I’ve never felt excited about bands on tour. I never want to hear more than three new songs, just the old stuff. But this time, I’ve told Kim we should just start off with [1993 hit] ‘Cannonball’ and only play the new album from there.”