Breaking the Balls of History

The music, in all its messy beauty, hits like a sack of bricks to the head.

Breaking the Balls of History continues this momentum of irrepressible songcraft. Carrying the torch for three decades now, Quasi have become one of the more enduring musical collaborations out of the Pacific Northwest, and this is a peak moment in their discography.

Dynamic is just what it is -- these songs show Weiss is again living up to her status as one of the best rock drummers on the planet. ... The songs are splendid, full of clever, catchy melodies, and Coomes' dramatic delivery is a great vehicle for his often topical and always quotable lyrics, taking on a variety of political and social maladies with a wit that's as charming as it is venomous.

The power pop of Quasi is awash in distortion throughout the album, keeping hips shaking, heads bobbing and nerves rattling.

‘Breaking…’ offers up a feast of exuberance, standout track ‘Riots and Jokes’ musically epitomising the album’s forward-charging freedoms, and neatly sums up Quasi’s modus operandi there in its very title.

Their most corrosive cocktail yet of melodious sunshine pop and blackly comedic lyrics. [Mar 2023, p.85]

So yes, the combination of energies works as well as it ever did, a remarkable 30 years after it started. The pandemic, far from crushing the joy out, coaxes an unexpected giddiness from two lifers playing as hard as they can for the love of it.

With the world coming apart at the seams, Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes have never sounded more together, more single-minded and strong-willed. They made an album that needed to be made. Quasi went all-in on Breaking the Balls of History, and it lives up to its absolutely killer title.