The Breeders, Astoria, London

These boots are made for stomping

Some time back in the early Nineties, before Britpop took over the world (well, this part of it anyway), and chicken tikka masala became the official national dish, the Breeders were a highly popular band on both sides of the Atlantic.

Formed originally by Kim Deal, bassist of the much adored Pixies, and Tanya Donnelly, of Boston labelmates the Throwing Muses, as a way for their otherwise overlooked songs to receive exposure, they went through various line-up changes, always centred around Deal, and finally broke big with 1993's wonderful, if patchy, Last Splash album, before disappearing.

For a long time, the chances of the Breeders re-emerging in 2002 looked about as likely as Paul Gascoigne leading England's World Cup team (as opposed to England's punditry team). But last month an album, Title TK, suddenly appeared. It's strangely weary, with occasional imaginative interludes, and not helped by one of the inexplicably admired Steve Albini's flattest productions ever. Yet it retains a curious dignity as Deal and her twin sister Kelley, long the heart of the band, mark their 40th birthdays with an unusual resignation. Half the songs on the album appear to be about drinking, which might explain the protracted absence.

But the understandable concerns that the Deal sisters have become the Patty and Selma Bouvier of faintly alternative rock, embittered and aware their time has passed, are miraculously dispelled by tonight's performance. The current line-up, featured on the new record to no great effect, are fiery and subtle by turns, men in their forties clearly relieved to have escaped the normal grind. (In fact, two members of the quintet, guitarist Richard Presley and bassist Mando Lopez were once in Fear, the Los Angeles punk band adored by John Belushi, who failed to arrive at a jam session with them the very night he died.)

Kicking off with a straightforward set of stompers in "Aloha", "Tipp City" (originally recorded by Kim's short-lived garage-rock band the Amps), "Huffer" and the glam idiocy of "Saints", they make their intentions clear. But it's the winning triple-whammy of "I Just Wanna Get Along", the gloriously subtle ballad "Off You", which actually silences a rabid crowd, and their undisputed classic "Cannonball" that stands out. From then on it's plain sailing, as even the sudden appearance of a drumkit for Kim to play during the excellent "The She" fails to disrupt the flow. They even throw in a cover of the theme from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, itself something of a tribute to the Pixies' own surf-rock obsession. Honestly, they were great. Kim Deal is still a star, dropping corny jokes throughout, flirting with an audience young enough to be her kids, her sour-sweet voice ageing well, hosting a house party (with band) for 2,000 souls. Whether any of the crowd took her up on her invitation to "meet in the club later" is debatable. After all, Breeders may not be welcome at G.A.Y. (held in the same venue), but everyone else should be delighted to see them.