My awareness of Throwing Muses only really stems from their 1992 album Red Heaven, which is the first without Kristin Hersh’s co-vocalist and guitarist Tanya Donnelly. Some tracks on that album, notably Furious, Dirty Water, and Carnival Wig, were delightfully grungy, scrunchy, tortured bits of angst.
This, their debut album, is a bit lighter in tone, but still carries with it a delicious sense of oddness. In some ways, musically, the Muses here are a bit like a distaff REM, with tunes that fall from a little to a long way on the alternative side of jangly rock. The vocals, especially Hersh’s, have a little goat-like vibrato reminiscent of Stevie Nicks. There’s a darkness to some of the hammered guitars, but also more of a direct melody. Like they do on Red Heaven, the tracks sometimes abruptly change tempo, from upbeat to dreamlike psychedelia.
I liked this. Not as dramatic as Red Heaven, which to be honest I don’t think will be on this list as it’s a little uneven. I’m hoping for some more Throwing Muses, though, and this is one to listen to again.
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