 = The Amps = 
 
 The Amps were an American alternative @-@ indie rock group . Formed by Kim Deal in 1995 after her band the Breeders went on hiatus , the group consisted of Deal , vocals and guitars ; Luis Lerma , bass ; Nate Farley , guitars ; and the Breeders ' Jim Macpherson , drums . The Breeders ' Kelley Deal , Kim 's sister , was also briefly involved , but had to leave the band due to drug problems . The group was named when Kim Deal started calling herself Tammy Ampersand for fun , and the band Tammy and the Amps . They recorded the album Pacer in Ireland and the United States . 
 Pacer was released in October 1995 . The group toured the United States , Europe , and Australia , with bands including the Foo Fighters , Sonic Youth , and Guided by Voices . Critics commented on the loose and rough quality of these performances . The Amps continued as a group until 1996 , when Deal changed their name back to the Breeders . By 2000 , Macpherson , Lerma , and Farley had left the band ; they were all at times involved in various projects with Guided by Voices ' Robert Pollard . Deal 's next album , the Breeders ' Title TK , was released seven years after Pacer . 
 
 = = Background and formation = = 
 
 From 1986 to 1992 , Deal was a member of the Pixies , and from 1989 onwards , the Breeders . In August 1993 , the Breeders released their second album , Last Splash , which went platinum in the USA , gold in Canada , and silver in the UK . The other members of the group at that time were Kim 's twin sister Kelley Deal , Josephine Wiggs and Jim Macpherson . By late 1994 , after two years of straight touring and recording , and culminating in the Lollapalooza tour , the band members were exhausted ; they decided to take some time off from the Breeders , but this hiatus ended up being longer than expected . Kelley was arrested on drug charges in late 1994 and spent time in and out of rehabilitation , while Wiggs became involved in musical projects in New York , including collaborations with members of Luscious Jackson . 
 Meanwhile , Kim Deal was eager to continue recording and performing . At first , she envisioned her next album as a solo record , on which she would play all of the instrument parts . When she was recording initial demos for the project , she asked Kelley to play on some of them , to distract her from her drug difficulties . Since Kelley was now also involved , Deal decided not to go solo , but formed a new group . She recruited Macpherson to play drums , musician Luis Lerma , bass , and Nate Farley , guitar . Later , Kelley dropped out of the project for rehabilitation and moved to Saint Paul , Minnesota . For fun , Deal began calling herself Tammy Ampersand , and the group , Tammy and the Amps . This later became simply the Amps . 
 
 = = Recording and touring = = 
 
 The Amps released one album , Pacer , which was recorded at several different studios . The first session , at Easley Studios in Memphis , Tennessee , was engineered by Davis McCain and Doug Easley . There Deal recorded new songs , including what would become Pacer 's single , " Tipp City " . This recording opportunity came about when she was producing a planned record by Guided by Voices ; when that group abandoned work on their album , Deal used the leftover studio time for her own songs . Following the Easley Studios session , recording for Pacer continued at six other locations in total , including studios in Chicago , Los Angeles , Dublin , and Deal 's hometown , Dayton , Ohio . Engineers Steve Albini , John Agnello , Bryce Goggin and others each helped record one or more of these sessions . Pacer came out in October 1995 . 
 The Amps toured throughout 1995 and 1996 . Early performances , before releasing Pacer , included June 1995 shows in Dayton : one with Poster Children and another with Guided by Voices . They toured with Guided by Voices and Chavez in the United Kingdom in September , in cities such as London , Glasgow , and Sheffield , and played another show with Guided by Voices in Ohio in October . The Amps performed a series of US concerts in October and November with Sonic Youth , including shows in Detroit and Chicago with Helium , in Seattle and Portland with Bikini Kill , and in Los Angeles with Mike Watt . Following the concerts with Sonic Youth , the Amps did a tour of Europe . In January 1996 , they played the Summersault festival in Australia . That year , the Amps toured with the Foo Fighters in the United States , in locations such as Chicago ( with That Dog ) , Worcester , Massachusetts , and Austin , Texas ( with Jawbreaker ) . In 1995 or 1996 , they also played shows with the Tasties and Brainiac . 
 Reviewers described live concerts by the Amps as unpolished and relaxed . The Chronicle 's Drema Crist praised their show at an unidentified location as " fun @-@ spirited and silly " . Greg Kot of The Chicago Tribune described one of their Chicago performances as " off @-@ kilter " and wrote that " Deal 's pungent vocals were swallowed up by the guitars , and the foursome 's slight melodies were lost amid all the bashing . " A review in The Chicago Reader of the same concert noted that " The Amps play with a low @-@ key , hangout sound . " The Phoenix 's Matt Ashare felt that at their December 1995 show in Boston " the Amps didn 't click in a way that would suggest that this was Deal 's new , full @-@ time band " ; he added that it was " an unpretentiously gritty way for Deal to let off some steam while the Breeders [ took ] a little break " . In Boston Rock , this concert was characterized as " sloppy " but " charm [ ing ] ... hanging loosely off Kim 's gruff vocals and ebullient personality " . 
 
 = = Reforming the Breeders = = 
 
 Later in 1996 , Deal changed the name of the group back to the Breeders , originally with almost the same line @-@ up as the Amps . Until then , Deal had been waiting for Wiggs and Kelley to rejoin the Breeders and record a new album together , and had held back from reforming the Breeders out of respect for them . In May 1996 , Wiggs revealed that she would not be involved in any immediate Breeders activity ; Kelley also chose to stay in Saint Paul , to be close to her rehabilitation facility . Deal then decided that she did not want to wait any longer to reform the group , partly because the Breeders ' repertoire was larger than the Amps ' , thereby allowing longer concerts . Deal added violinist Carrie Bradley ( who had played on the Breeders ' Pod album ) , and with Macpherson , Lerma , and Farley , played some shows in 1996 with Primus . 
 By 1998 , Kelley had rejoined and Macpherson had left the group , and by 2000 Lerma and Farley had also left . The Breeders , with a line @-@ up including the Deal sisters and new members Mando Lopez and Jose Medeles , released the albums Title TK in 2002 and Mountain Battles in 2008 . Meanwhile , Macpherson was a member of Guided by Voices from 1998 to 2001 , and participated in other projects with Guided By Voices ' Robert Pollard until 2005 . Lerma and Farley have been members of the Tasties , and in 1999 participated in Pollard 's Lexo and the Leapers side project group ; Farley was also a member of Guided by Voices from 1999 to 2004 . In 2013 , the Last Splash @-@ era Breeders line @-@ up of Kim and Kelley Deal , Macpherson , and Wiggs reunited to tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of that album . 
 
 = = Members = = 
 
 Kim Deal – vocals , guitars 
 Luis Lerma – bass 
 Nate Farley – guitars 
 Jim Macpherson – drums 
 
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