The Breeders Play Marriage Doctors at All Tomorrow's Parties Festival

Jason Persse for Spinner

Playing a rock show, saving a marriage: It's all in a day's work for Kim and Kelley Deal. Late in their set Saturday night at All Tomorrow's Parties at Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, NY, the twin guitarists and Breeders leaders came to the aid of friend Steve Albini, who'd played earlier with his group Shellac. Albini's performance was gangbusters, and while fans were rightfully psyched he'd made the trip to the Catskills, his wife might have rather he'd stayed in Chicago and celebrated the couple's first wedding anniversary.

In a bid to smooth things over, Kelley called Albini's wife, Heather, from the stage and prompted the audience to deliver on Steve's behalf the alt-rock equivalent of a singing telegram.

"Happy anniversary, Mrs. Albini!" the crowd shouted into Kelley's cell phone, perhaps sparing Mr. Albini a trip to the doghouse.

Even with that foray into couple's therapy, the Deals managed to squeeze 17 songs into their allotted hour, mixing new jams with '90s classics. Kim, the band's founder and frontwoman, sang with her trademark ethereal sweetness, infusing such tunes as 'Bang On,' a peppy little number about being unloved, with a kind of ironic bite.

Kelley played slide on 'No Aloha,' adding a slight Hawaiian vibe to the Breeder's jagged pop sound. Live, even more so than on record, the band shares much in common with the Pixies, with whom Kim rose to indie-rock renown in the late '80s and early '90s. The similarities were particular apparent whenever Kim strapped on an acoustic guitar, as Frank Black often does, and Kelley sliced in with her Les Paul, the instrument favored by Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago.

The Breeders enlisted a violin player for the closer, 'Drivin' on 9,' a country song about a girl traveling to Nevada to get hitched, wondering if her shotgun-toting daddy is going to show up and spoil the ceremony. The Albinis may have their ups and downs, but at least their marriage drama doesn't involve firearms.