I have been fortunate to see Kristin Hersh live on a couple of occasions, doing solo acoustic and with her power trio. She is always captivating. Her records seem to reflect her live performances, ebbing and brooding along sending out random jolts of electricity.
The album starts with Dark Blue, getting us straight into that Throwing Muses groove - a thick, chugging riff providing a foil for Hersh's distinctive drawl. It provides a comforting start, sounding just like the Muses should.
Bywater conjures up hazy summer in its shimmering: "A long sidewalk summer, softer than haze on a shrine to others." Milk at McDonald's is almost like a quiet waltz. Bo Diddley Bridge is a cacophony.
Side two opens with Upstairs Dan; now I'm not sure what kind of character Dan is, but they "Keep lushes drunk and drunks lush", and its melancholy opening stretches into ethereal chords and vocals, building up with the guitars shimmering behind.
"In heaven maybe they don't call you crazy." Frosting sees the guitars layered up in charming arpeggios, with a most beautiful bass line which ambles along in a delightfully off-kilter way. The vocals fall and then rise to that incredible Hersh sustained holler.
Key Catherine sounds somewhat demented, before the album wraps with Sue's, a beautiful little ditty about the devil.
Overall, it's a great Throwing Muses album, full of fuzz and whispers and moans.
Notes:
Recorded at Stable Sound, Rhode Island
Produced by Kristin Hersh and Steve Rizzo
Released - September 2020 on Fire Records
Throwing Muses: Kristin Hersh, David Narcizo, Bernard Georges
Score:
Good and solid - 7.8 / 10
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