The Individualism of Throwing Muses
SEAN KITCHING
Formed in 1980 in Newport, Rhode Island by Kristin Hersh and stepsister Tanya Donelly, Throwing Muses deserve to be mentioned alongside the vanguard of what later became known as alternative or college rock in the US. Notably R.E.M., the Feelies, the Violent Femmes and The Replacements date back as far as that, others later. Throwing Muses were the first of many American bands to be signed by British label 4AD, who also had Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance on their distinguished roster. I’ve personally been a fan since I first saw them play alongside Pixies some 37 years ago, so it was welcome news that this year they would be touring a new album, Moonlight Concessions, particularly as the tour included a first-time stop in Hastings.
Kristin Hersh of Throwing Muses
According to Hersh, the album is titled after the concessions stand (snack bar) at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, California, where she wrote its songs whilst briefly living there amongst displaced and homeless people. “I wrote a lot of the songs there on that beach,” she told me, “and one day I was just staring at the ocean wrestling with a lot of songs playing at the same time in my head, focusing to the point where I had sort of forgotten to eat or sleep. The concessions stand guy gave me this huge, life-saving drink of fizzy water with a little slice of lemon on top, and as soon as I sat down with it, I knew how these songs should be played.” Empathy on such a simple, yet not simplistic, human level is key to the new album, with each song a story told in a direct and instantly affecting manner that recalls the style of short story writer and poet Raymond Carver.
Having famously told Warner Brothers where to go in the mid-90s, trading her first solo album, Hips and Makers, for her contractual freedom, Hersh has been fiercely independent and highly productive ever since. Hersh says: “I write Throwing Muses songs on my Stratocaster or my Telecaster, 50 Foot Wave songs on my SG or my Les Paul and solo songs on my Collings.” When I ask her whether, on the forthcoming tour, fans can expect material from her extensive back catalogue, Hersh says: “Stuck in time? That’s not music, that’s fashion. We have a timeless approach, so we’re really happy to play old songs. We don’t care which record they were on, if any.”
To listen, try albums The Real Ramona (1991) and/or Limbo (1995).
Throwing Muses play Hastings White Rock Studio on 28 May. Moonlight Concessions will be released via Fire Records on 14 March. Sean Kitching writes for The Quietus.
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