50 Foot Wave [EP, Import]

50 Foot Wave | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 25, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: EP, Import
• Label: 4ad Records UK
• ASIN: B0001V6RNW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #786,063 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

In a career full of busy years, 2003 stands out as a very busy year for Kristin Hersh. In March of 2003 Hersh put out not one, but two full-length releases -- The Grotto, her fifth solo record and an all-new Throwing Muses record for the first time in seven years. Add to that the birth of her fourth son (Bodhi), months of touring, a cross-country move, and the formation of her first new band since she began making music with Throwing Muses in the early eighties: 50 Foot Wave.

This new band - consisting of Kristin, Throwing Muses bassist Bernard Georges, and drummer Rob Ahlers - sounds like nothing she's done before, but listening to the two records released in 2003, it's possible to see how she got there.

"Throwing Muses" was the work of a musician clearly delighted to be reunited with her electric guitar and her band. The angular, furious songs on that record, shot through with rock-goddess guitar work by Kristin was both a return to the band's roots and a jumping off point for something new altogether. "The Grotto" showed us a woman profoundly in control of her music -- each sound as well as each silence. 50 Foot Wave takes that exquisite control and infuses it with an energetic intensity -- The urgency and freshness of these songs is palpable in 50 Foot Wave's rock-assault.

Throwing Muses' dark, jagged sound had its roots in the musical outpourings of a young woman at war with herself, giving release to the songs that plagued her. An astonishing twenty years into her musical career, Kristin is writing new songs for a decidedly new band, one that springs out of her experience and her power. Listening to the first blistering 50 Foot Wave songs, it's clear; this is still war but now she's winning.

"50 Foot Wave" is propelled by the racecar engine of Kristin's guitar and her explosive, feral vocals. Bernard's bass, as always, is a muscle, undulating through Kristin's wall of sound. Ahlers drumming is ferocious and unbridled, at once supporting and keeping pace with Kristin's driving and relentless sound. The trio are tight and powerful, creating music that is precise, emotional and seemingly on the edge of control.

Built from the ground up to be an overwhelming live experience, 50 Foot Wave plans to tour extensively, playing upwards of 100 shows a year in the US alone. Additionally, rather than the standard music-biz cycle of a full-length CD every 2 years or so, the band plans to self-release 5 or 6 song recordings every nine months. This approach complements the band’s energetic and urgent sound. Hersh explains, "The current state of the music business leaves us with fewer choices. A band can’t just release a record and wait for the fans to "show up". Independent radio has been all but wiped out and independent retail is in even bigger trouble, so it’s pretty simple really. Without radio we have to be the broadcast, without retail we have to be the means of distribution. Both of those realities mean that comprehensive touring is no longer optional, but required for a band that wants to play an active rather than a passive role in their own business."

The band will continue to build on the innovative work Kristin has been doing since the mid-nineties, finding new and exciting ways of involving fans in the music. They’ve provided early versions of songs as mp3s for download and opened one of the band’s early rehearsals to interested fans -- 120 people, some from as far as 3,000 miles away traveled to the practice where they were served pizza and beer in an atmosphere that was decidedly more "living room" than rock club. Hersh says, "We’re very lucky to have these people who care so much about us. Since 1994 we’ve had a web community (throwingmusic.com) of involved fans who’ve been there day in and day out. It’s been a great thing for us. We love the idea of one-to-one relationships driving the music business instead of marketing dollars, and the ThrowingMusic Online community helps ma --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Product Description

On March 23, 50 Foot Wave will release 50 Foot Wave, their eponymously titled debut. The independently released six-song collection will be the first of a series of "mini-albums." With a planned release of a new mini-album every nine months; this is considerably more frequent than the standard music business cycle of a full-length album every two years. The band believes this format is more affordable, more digestible and more desirable to music listeners today. 50 Foot Wave is comprised of Throwing Muses front woman Kristin Hersh, joined by bassist Bernard Georges (Throwing Muses) and drummer Rob Ahlers. This is Hersh’s first new band since she founded the influential Throwing Muses and promises to be a harder, faster, more direct experience. 50 Foot Wave will tour extensively, projecting over 100 shows a year in the U.S. alone. The band has already developed a reputation as an overwhelming live experience. This strong emphasis on performance builds on Kristin’s always-innovative methods of involving fans in the music. To satisfy curiosity about the new project early in the life of 50 Foot Wave, the band held open rehearsals in Los Angeles for 150 fans from their web community, throwingmusic.com, some traveling thousands of miles to attend. 50 Foot Wave hopes to bring the independent spirit of ThrowingMusic to their label imprint, which will be releasing their output. Relying on one-to-one relationships rather than marketing dollars to drive their music business, 50 Foot Wave continues to strengthen the bond between band and fan. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant (can anything less be said about Kristin's muse)!, May 28, 2004

By 

Christian Hokenson (Burbank, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 50 Foot Wave (Audio CD)

An awesome collection of Throwing Muses-styled punk... unlike her prior band (TM) but still has a certain emotional edge than only Kristin Hersh can bring to a song. This is truly a smashing rock album, one that can easily stand alongside the best of the post-punk era. Hard driving guitar, pounding drums and a steady bass really do make the band sound like a fifty-foot wave crashing right over your head.

I got to see the new band live at the Silverlake Lounge (one of Los Angeles's trendy little enclaves where gentrifcation hasn't yet taken hold... check it out and wander 'round the area... it's still a hipster's scene) a cool and dirty little place that's both bar and bandstand for the various acts that come along, play awhile and head on out. The beer is cheap, and the room is mostly dark save for the bright lights over the stage that spell out S-A-L-V-A-T-I-O-N. The place looks like you've stepped right into David Lynch's "Wild at Heart." The stage is juuuuuust big enough for a three-piece band, and the night 50'Wave played they took that damned stage over! They flat out rocked, and only covered 50'Wave songs (sorry TM and Hersh solo fans), there was one TM cover and it quickly became aurally thrashed by way of the 50' sound... it was an amazing experience. I felt like I was there at the beginning of something... like seeing Patti Smith at CBGB or Max's Kansas City. True to form, Kristin, no matter what the incarnation, played and sang like her life depended on it... she rarely makes eye-contact with the audience during her songs, staring at some faraway place just over your head, as if in a trance, a dream, a nightmare, an alternate reality that she's inviting you into. This is not to say she puts on a stodgy, but hard rockin' act... no no no. In between songs, she's very personable toward the audience, letting them know how the songs came about but never what they really mean... that's for you to find out. She is very, very funny in these between song monologues (that sometimes, depending on the audience, become dialogues).

Needless to say, the album represents the music well (the CD is great, but Kristin seriously is becoming a music industry of one... the real music industry is to consumed with American Idol diva wannabees to take a serious musician seriously) and the tunes are just a smattering of what you can expect as this band evolves and finds its groove (though, to be fair, it sounds like they've done that already... she's worked with Bernard Georges, the bass player before in TM, and Rob is a new find... and Kristin has declared him one of the best drummers she's ever worked with).

It's great that she has a band again to showcase her songcraft. Throwing Muses will always be very special and a great and influential band (on par with the Pixies), and her solo work is sublime, nearly perfect (and very, very emotionally wrought... if you listen to her solo work, you're basically being invited to tour her psyche, the good, the bad and the ugly), but 50'Wave cannot be dismissed as just another band... it is a true find for the real fan of song writting, musicianship (staggeringly brilliant as usual) and verve... the band just flat out rocks the house... and now, for a small charge, it can rock your house too!

Catch her and the band live if you can, you won't regret it!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frantic music for thinking people, April 8, 2004

By 

Dudley Dooright - See all my reviews

This review is from: 50 Foot Wave (Audio CD)

For those depressed by the fact that last year's Throwing Muses "reunion" album held so much promise just as the band was saying farewell--or those just seeking music with depth to go along with tasty breakneck tempos--this is the music you've been waiting for. Combining all the best elements of latter-day Muses releases with new-found excitement and inspiration, not to mention one hellacious blast of sonic fury, this is music that literally leaps out and demands your attention.

While there are undeniable echoes of the final Muses release, which itself showed marked signs of maturity, it's clearly a new beginning for Kristin Hersh after 20 years in the business. Accompanied by Muses bassist Bernard Georges--who teams with new drummer Rob Ahlers to create nothing short of rhythmic insanity that often sounds as if there are two of each of them playing--Kristin has found something entirely fresh in her songwriting, guitar playing and singing. That she could reinvent herself at this stage of her career is nothing short of miraculous, and the music that results is vital, contemporary, and fascinating. It is complex and listenable at the same time; ear candy for the discriminating listener on one level and something to gnaw upon the depths of long after listening on another.

Standout tracks for me after the first few listens were "Bug" and "Clara Bow," two of the (forgive the use of the word) "poppier" tracks. They're upbeat and catchy as all get-out. But repeated listening--and some of that forementioned gnawing--releases gems from darker (though still punchy) tracks like "Long Painting" and my current favorite, "Dog Days." So multi-faceted is the music that each listen holds the potential to reveal something new about every track on the disk, and that remains to be the case after several weeks of playing it nearly nonstop. It's frantic music for thinking people.

Admirably, this is truly a DIY effort, self-released and promoted via the band's web site, www.throwingmusic.com. Plans to tour extensively beginning next week (100+ dates per year in the US, plus more overseas, of a live show not to be missed), to control costs as a way of helping new fans find the music, and to issue additional mini-albums every nine months hold great promise for the future of the band and for those who appreciate it. And that's really intriguing. Because if the first taste is this good, it's hard to imagine how good it's going to get. And that will make for some tasty gnawing, indeed.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Must-hear alternative rock for the 21st century", April 6, 2004

By 

Steven E. Rich "steveR" (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 50 Foot Wave (Audio CD)

They say we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but 50 Foot Wave is a rock band that thrillingly and accurately CAN be judged by its name. 50 Foot Wave might be described as a punk-pop band, since this band takes the simple, urgent, emotional approach rooted in punk rock music, and fuses that emotional directness with the accessible melodic appeal of pop music. The end result is a powerful blending of raw, cathartic noise combined with catchy, ear-pleasing melodies. The gargantuan visceral force of this band's live performance can be compared to standing next to the ground-rumbling spectacle of the revving engine of a 747 jet airplane. And yet, through the monolithic wall of noise, can be heard singer/guitarist Kristin Hersh's crisp, ringing melodies. Hersh coaxes energetic, creative melodies from her wailing guitar like a musical Felix the Cat, reaching into a seemingly bottomless bag of melodic tricks, and supplying an endless array of satisfying patterns of notes and chords. In short, experiencing a 50 Foot Wave show leaves the audience intoxicated by the panoramic expanse of feedback-drenched sound, while keeping the audience engaged through killer melodic hooks that churn joyously away like a giant sonic machine of emotional release.