3/18/2005

 

50 Foot Wave

50 Foot Wave is my new favorite band. Kristin Hersh has risen from the burning embers of Throwing Muses, a band which was her baby for over 20 years. That band pioneered a unique college rock sound, emerging in 1986 along with the Pixies from Boston and becoming the first US act signed to British art-rock label 4AD. After 10 albums, and several failed major label driven attempts at the mainstream, the band finally ran out of steam, and Kristin focused on her solo career for several years, releasing a series of haunting classic albums (Hips and Makers, Strange Angels, Sky Motel, Sunny Border Blue, The Grotto) all of which rank extremely high on my favorite-albums-ever-o-meter. Still on 4AD with her new band 50 Foot Wave, Ms. Hersh has decided to revisit her punk rock roots, and record an album that rocks harder than anything she's ever done, and probably harder than anything else out there on the current rock music scene. Golden Ocean immediately grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go until the last track, gently easing you back to reality. I've read a couple of reviews of this record suggesting similarities with Nirvana, and that's a fair comparison considering that Kurt Cobain was a big fan of the early Throwing Muses records, and Kristin Hersh was a Nirvana fan as well, as evidenced by her solo cover of "Pennyroyal Tea". This album occupies the same harrowing brain space as Cobain, slightly asphyxiating but slightly amusing as well. Hersh is an excellent and witty lyricist, although you can't understand much here, with everything turned up to 11. It's worth visiting their website and reading the lyrics. The fact that the sound is so overdriven blurs a lot of the intricate details normally associated with Kristin Hersh, but that's what makes this different than a Throwing Muses record. It's a proverbial Monster of Rock and not ashamed of that fact in the slightest. Kristin is finally able to let her big balls hang out, and the result is absolutely stunning and extremely addictive. This album deserves to be huge, so spread the word: 50 Foot Wave is here to rock! 50 Foot Wave - Bone China MP3 3.41MB, 192kbps, 44kHz

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