Sun Racket

Throwing Muses

Fire Records, 2020

http://www.throwingmuses.com

REVIEW BY: Pete Crigler

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 12/07/2020

Wow! Who would have thought that a new Throwing Muses album in 2020 would sound so good? From the opening punch of the first track, “Dark Blue,” Kristin Hersh, David Narcizo, and Bernard Georges instantly prove that they still sound as good as they did in their heyday. The song is moody, melodic, and heavy all at the same time and it sounds amazing.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

Though this album is a brief thirty-four minutes, the band works hard to get their points across. Hersh’s songwriting is still as introspective and outward looking as it ever was. Her vocals on “Bo Diddley Bridge” and “Bywater” are really sharp and really help to keep the Muses a strong and noteworthy band this far into their career. While “Maria Laguna” could have been a bit longer, the brevity of the song heighten its bright spots.

“Upstairs Dan” is one of the band’s best songs; there, it’s been said! It features a hypnotic riff that sets the pace for the entire track with Hersh’s vocals guiding the way. It’s just an outstanding song and one that quickly jumps onto my top ten list for this year. “Frosting” is another quality track with more great vocals and hypnotic riffing. It’s great to see that Hersh wasn’t ready to make a good Muses record until she felt that the songs were worthy of the Muses name. She couldn’t have picked a better top-notch batch of great material. Even some of the weaker tracks like “Sue’s” and “Kay Catherine” help make the album better than it really should be.

There’s no way that anyone would or could have conceived that a Throwing Muses album would sound this great and relevant in such a year as this. Let’s hope that the band continues on and can keep up this amazing momentum. With all that said, I hope this doesn’t become one of the more overlooked records of the year.

Rating: B+

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