Customer Reviews

50 Foot Wave

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

This album consists of 6 tracks and weighs in at just under 20 minutes long. The band is fronted by Kristin Hersh of the Throwing Muses, and the trio is completed by Bernard Georges (also of the Muses) on bass and Rob Ahlers on drums.

For Muses fans, there is no way that you won't love this offering. Think of the fiercest Muses songs like Mania, Furious, Shark, Pretty Or Not or Solar Dip, then imagine feeling that heart-racing intensity for 20 minutes.

This album leaves me out of breath, wanting more, stunned, feeling lucky to be alive, and very happy that Kristin sounds so excited after 20 years in the business.

The album is tailored towards the fans, and the band expect to release a mini-album every 9 months or so.

The guitar on this album is brilliant, fast, and very prominent in the mix. The opening line is "C'mon play the goddamn music" as if Kristin can't want to start screaming, and a lot of these vocals are screams.

The tempo changes wildly in all the songs, switching from a fast rant to a more measured structure, and it sounds like they have been playing together for years.

Remember how the Ramones used to sound live? Well these songs should all start 1,2,3,4.

Bernard's bass drives "Glory Weed" and there are hints of the gentle Kristin before she becomes enraged and starts a monotone screaming chant.

There are going to be 100 live shows in the US this year and I urge you to go and feel the force of this music. After 20 years of producing wonderful music, Kristin deserves to be heard by a wider audience.

I thought the Pixies reunion would be my highlight of the year, but this moved the goalposts.

Another Kristen/Muses fan here - blown away by this record. Kristen is simply an amazing guitar player. I saw the band live when the were kicking off their tour in LA, and she often seems to play three melodies at once and sing at the same time. Tickets for that show - $10 (with Visqueen - another great band no less!). CD - $7. This is a mini social revolution for the record business, I hope it takes.

This mini album by Throwing Muses founder Kristin Hersh's new band is well worth the reasonable price. If you are a Throwing Muses fan, purchasing this CD will be a no-brainer. Most fans are unrelenting in their loyalty to the band. However, I can honestly say that 50 Foot Wave is nothing like the Muses (other than the obvious of Hersh and Benard Georges being in both bands) If the Muses are the launch pad then 50 Foot Wave is the rocket rumbling towards the Sun. This record is hard and fast and smart. It is filled with stops and starts and jolting tempo shift that showcase what a cohesive unit this newborn baby band is. (Check out the song "Long Painting" for a better explanation). Other stand out tracks for me are "Clara Bow" and the stomach punching "Dog Days" which just does something to me. Listen to this record at a very high volume as that is what 50 Foot Wave is meant for. Crank it! It's also nice to see a pioneering artist such as Hersh still making such relavant and jaw dropping music after 20 years in the business.

When the Muses released their swan song, the self-titled 2003 album, I had the chance to see them live at Irving Plaza in NYC. It was amazing. All the songs that I loved, but had never actually heard played live, were so loud, and hard, and full of something that wasn't there on the records. Not that the records aren't good, just different. Alas, knowing that the Muses would probably not make any other albums, I figured I would chalk the experience up to conversations about the good old days and move on. That was until I received my first installment of the 50 Foot Wave ep collection. (It had better be a collection, because I am ready for number two.)

THe songs here are so hard and fast and crazy that they make me dance and sing and spew, and that's just the things that happen when I am in public and have to control myself. Kristin Hersh is nothing short of amazing. A career with a band spanning multiple albums, marriage and motherhood, a solo career, and now this. Yes! Yes! Yes! Buy this record!

Everyone needs a new band. A side project. It's like having a whole other family in a different town that no one knows about. This is their first 6-song EP of many to come. They have decided to come out with one every nine months. Then they can cherry pick and get some great material for an album. I have heard of this idea before. Didn't Wire have a "Read & Burn" series? The song "Clara Bow" actually sounds like a Wire song. This band is Kristen Hersh from Throwing Muses. I never listened to them back in the day. I knew they were always in town. It's my fault. I have problems. This record is very hard a fast. It is really good. I am not too sure what Throwing Muses sounded like, but 50 Foot Wave sound very to the point. Everything is laid bare.

If you want to get rocked, you won't want to miss 50 Foot Wave. Listening to the six songs on their debut and you can't help but picture the intensity of a live 50 Foot Wave. 50 Foot Wave is like Throwing Muses on speed...and it will make you feel that way too. For all those wondering what happened to punk...check this.

I've always liked KH's and TM's catchier, harder songs -- "Bright Yellow Gun," "Tar Kissers," "Civil Disobedience." 50 foot wave channels that impulse through Nirvana, with time signatures not seen since Dave Brubeck was young. As Dana Carvey used to say, "weird, wild stuff." For Muses fans, the effect of the new drummer is bracing -- I hadn't realized just how accustomed I was to Narcizo until I heard Ahlers. "Clara Bow" is insanely great, and the rest of the EP is strong. Highly recommended.