Throwing Muses

I love how dirty-American-80s-teenager they look in this photo. I saw Throwing Muses for the first time ever... and I cried of course... because I always cry at good performances of music that has been a part of my life for a really long time. Throwing Muses has been around forever... but they haven't released an album in 7 years... so I was, naturally, a little skeptical of what the performance was going to be like. I've seen Kristin Hersh solo three times... and 50 Foot Wave once. I don't really like 50 Foot Wave that much; I always wanted them to be more like Throwing Muses.

Luckily, one of the things that is so great about Kristin Hersh is that she maintains very separate sounds for all three of these projects. It was an amazing concert... even if Tanya Donnelly wasn't there... and the bass player is way more attractive than I could have ever expected.

Upon revisiting Throwing Muses, I've realized that there is an impeccable timelessness to their music. It's always been weird and it always will be weird. The song structures and sounds aren't particularly representative of any musical era or trend. Their songs could have been recorded yesterday and people would think it's new. So. For the love of Throwing Muses, here is a conglomeration of their songs that I particularly enjoy.

from Untitled, 1986
Green

from House Tornado, 1988
Marriage Tree

from The Real Ramona, 1991
Golden Thing
Graffiti
Not Too Soon

from Limbo, 1996
Serene
Tar Kissers


from wikipedia: "Throwing Muses are an alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island. The group was originally fronted by two lead singers, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly, who both wrote the group's songs. Throwing Muses are known for performing music with shifting tempos, creative chord progressions, unorthodox song structures, and surreal lyrics. The group was set apart from other contemporary acts by Hersh's stark, candid writing style; Donelly's pop stylings and vocal harmonies; and David Narcizo's unusual drumming techniques eschewing use of cymbals. Hersh's hallucinatory, febrile songs occasionally touched on the subject of mental illness, more often drawing portraits of characters from daily life or addressing relationships."