When somebody kills the golden goose, you have to find a way to make your own gold.

After seven years as the bassist for the Pixies, Kim Deal only found out the band had broken up when lead singer/songwriter Black Francis sent her a fax. First of all, harsh. And secondly, could that anecdote be any more 90s?

Luckily, Deal already had a side project of her own called The Breeders, a band formed with Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses back in 1989, primarily as an outlet for Deal’s songwriting. An outlet which was necessary because she wasn’t allowed much creative freedom in the Pixies.

Although originally intended as more of a quick and dirty hobby, The Breeders became Deal’s full-time focus upon the dissolution of the Pixies, and she immediately recruited her twin sister Kelley to play guitar (despite the fact that Kelley did not know how to play guitar at all) since Tanya had left to form Belly. After having only 10 days to record their debut album back in 1990, the band was able to take a little more time with their follow up when they entered the studio in early 1993.

The song which would become their biggest hit started out as a demo called “Grunggae,” a portmanteau of grunge and reggae. The demo sounds pretty similar to the final product, although a little more relaxed. However, once the band added the opening bass riff, some ferocious drumming, and Kim shrieking through a distorted harmonica mic, the final vision of “Cannonball” gelled into a grunge-pop classic.

The Pixies would reform both with and without Kim Deal, and The Breeders would fall apart and come back together, but neither band would ever again release a song that matched the impact of “Cannonball.”

So crash… with The Breeders.