Breeders Casually Resurrect Their Quirky Appeal

The Breeders have gotten almost as much attention for their checkered history as for such quirky ‘90s hits as “Cannonball” and “Divine Hammer.” On Sunday at the El Rey Theatre, the veteran alt-rock quintet launched a U.S. tour behind its first new album in nine years, “Title TK,” with an ultra-casual show that seemed driven chiefly by the whims of twin sisters Kim and Kelley Deal .

Still, the 90-minute set offered a broad perspective, with new tunes, lots of earlier material and selections from such side projects as the Amps and the Kelley Deal 6000. In between, the twins sniped good-naturedly at each other, smoked cigarettes, pounded out Nerf Herder’s surf-punky theme from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (a favorite of Kelley’s) and at one point had an extra drum kit set up for Kim to play.

Although the often loose proceedings probably wearied the less faithful, most of the audience stuck around. The Breeders’ pulsing, low-end-centered pop-rock may not be as cutting-edge as it was a decade ago, but its appeal remains, largely due to Kim’s way with spare, repetitive sonic and lyrical hooks, which can be traced back to her days as bassist for the hugely influential punk-poppers the Pixies.

The tunes alternated between angular urgency and expansive drone, with the sisters’ spookily similar vocal harmonies providing an unearthly sweetness that underscored the introverted heart of many songs.

New numbers such as “Little Fury” and the misfit’s anthem “Huffer” almost matched the exuberant thrills of the band’s more popular moments. And it was nice to see that after all this time, the Breeders can still get along.