Number 4 of 2003 — Throwing Muses: Throwing Muses

Back in 1980, when step-sisters Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly were 13 or so, they formed a band called Kristin Hersh and The Muses, although Kristin denies they were ever called that. Joining Kristin and Tanya (both guitar and vocals) were Becca Blumen (drums), and Elaine Adamedes (bass). They released their first demo in 1983. When Becca left, long-time friend David Narcizo took over on drums and the band became Throwing Muses in 1983-4. There were further line up changes over the years: most notably, Tanya Donelly who left in June 1991, because she was unhappy with contributing just a few songs to each album – with Kristin writing the remainder, and numerous bass players (Elaine Adamedes was replaced by Leslie Langston in 1985. Fred Abong replaced Leslie in 1990, and in around 1991-2, Fred left to join Tanya’s new band Belly. Fred was replaced by Bernard Georges.

Throwing Muses released many critically acclaimed albums and EPs during their most productive years. Their untitled first album in particular (1986), and The Fat Skier EP (1987). However, my favourite remains House Tornado (1988). The tour that accompanied that album was the first time I saw them live (this first UK tour was a double-headliner with Pixies), and was unfortunately the only time they played many of the songs from that album. Kristin occasionally played the exquisite You Cage as a solo encore to their gigs, but the rest of that album has been pretty much ignored for Kristin’s personal reasons.

Throwing Muses quit the music business after the release of their eighth album Limbo in 1996. The band wasn’t making any money and as much as they loved touring and loved making music they had to call it a day. “The band was barely breaking even, and it just didn’t seem to make sense financially to continue Throwing Muses as a living entity,” as Kristin remembers. On 6 May 2000, Throwing Muses got together in Boston, MA for a live reunion they titled “Gut Pageant”. Put together for the band’s online fan base, fans and band members mingled and enjoyed each other’s company for a day — “Like some kind of musical company picnic”, says Kristin. Over 1,000 of the Muses faithful travelled from all over the world to attend, some from as far away as New Zealand. Tanya Donelly played with the band for the first time in almost 10 years and Bob Mould opened the show with a surprise acoustic set. The band played, taking song requests from the audience, as did Kristin solo, and so a spark was lit for something a little more permanent.

This album, Throwing Muses is the result. Recorded in late 2001 (but not released until 2003), the album was recorded in three consecutive weekends. Kristin says: “We made a ‘quick and dirty’ record. It sounds very much like us — like we really do, as three people playing together in a room. Because we literally couldn’t afford the studio time it would have taken to produce it, it was as if we were tricked into making the record we always wanted! We didn’t rehearse before we entered the studio. We were playing by the seats of our pants. It’s a very exciting way to record, but we’ve played together for so many years, that it also felt solid and secure. It was nice to be home again.” and “I think we should have been making records like that all along. There were very few overdubs, and no heavy-handed mixing.” The album also marked the return of Tanya Donelly, who popped in to the sessions to add backing vocals for some of the tracks. The earlier Throwing Muses albums were authored between Tanya and Kristin, save the song Two Step that was credited to Throwing Muses. The reunion of the band is epitomised by the fact that the writing of the whole album is credited to Throwing Muses alone.

The first thing that struck me about this album is how close it sounds to their first album. There’s an intensity that was lost in their later recordings, primarily because of the production. Here it’s very raw – you can here when Kristin’s a little too far away from the mic for example. The opener Mercury introduces so many typical Muses moments, two-speed driving rhythms, military style drumming (which is what David originally learnt before joining the band), and screwy but beautiful backing vocals from Tanya. Pretty or Not is nice and slow, until the chorus kicks in, where we have scorching guitars ripping across the soundstage… left, right plus a solo in the middle “Pretty or not, on top or underneath, you’re never, never out of reach.”. Writing this now, this brings to mind the efforts of Kristin’s new band 50 Foot Wave.

One thing that’s very clear from the album is that there are more ‘pop’ songs. Civil Disobedience has a gorgeous singalong chorus, with a classic run-in to it, but elsewhere the arrangement harks back to Muses of old. It’s as if the album is both a new direction, a retrospective and a compilation album. Later in the album Ephinany has similar radio friendly choruses, with backing vocals from Tanya, but the rest of it isn’t radio friendly at all. Pandora’s Box strolls along until the chorus picks up into a stingingly spine-tingling moment. Kristin sings “I’m right behind you”, but alliterates it as “I’m right be-he-hind you” and it’s a masterstroke, which she repeats elsewhere in the song as the repeat of the chorus at the end of the song has completely different lyrics.

Status Quo is one of the tracks that you can dive into. Swimming around the guitars and drums, reminding me of Say Goodbye from The Real Ramona, but then the melody drops and we scream into “There are sapphires in the trees and the moths as big as bats. Lucky me, to have all that. What do you have on your mind?”.

Kristin has always had a way with words. Speed and Sleep has plenty of choice phrases that just blow me away. The opening is:

“Was a man took a hand, cleared the ground
Dug a hole we called home
Sprawled here
Eleven years, forty-four seasons
We came unstuck and it stung.”

Backed up by throbbing heavy guitars — Throwing Muses have been compared to Black Sabbath on more than one occassion (apparently it’s all to do with the chords) — and picked melody lines. It’s extraordinary that Kristen can write delightful delicate solo acoustic works and then write music as caustic as this is.

Portia has the line of the album, oft quoted in reviews, so I’ll quote it here: “Like frat boys who sleep together, we party better”. And although it’s foreign to me, somehow, I know exactly what she means.

“I’m so mad i could spit” (Solar Dip)

Los Flamingos, originally called Lost Flamingos, is somewhat of a throwaway song, which I don’t particularly like as it sounds like an abridged outtake from the Red Heaven sessions. The lengthy coda could be evidence of this.

Then there’s Half Blast and we’re into a seemingly epic Throwing Muses track. Slowly building from sparse drums and guitars which then rip into a luscious chorus using the same upping the bpms technique as before. There’s the first part of the chorus. Then, when you think it can’t get any harder, an extra overdrive guitar line drops in and the chorus takes off further. “Come outside, everyone’s outside”. Truly incredible. And Tanya’s vocals make it sound even sweeter. The epic feel of Half Blast comes to fruition on the final track Flying. The opening lines – almost a chorus – speak volumes. Is it about Kristin’s family, the band, her children, her husband, or all of these things?

“Wig out on me
One more time, I swear
We’ll take this outside
I take you to pretty places
You’d think you’d just take the rest in stride
Wrong
But if I’d known fucking with a payphone would’ve got me this
I would’ve tried sooner”

However, there are other lyrics that seem to sum up everything I love about this band. There’s a gothic shoe-gazing feel to the close of the song which indicates that perhaps this is the final song that Throwing Muses will record. The lyrics themselves and the way they are delivered convey an inevitability to this. It is desperately sad.

“I make you so sad
What can I do, what can I do?
I worry so bad
What can I do, what can I do?

I make you so mad
What can I do, what can I do?
I want you so bad
What can I do, what can I do?”