Throwing Muses / Kristen Hersh - 'Throwing Muses' / 'The Grotto' (4AD)
4/5
By: Toby L
As if to emphasise that there's little money in merely being known as a 'cult', Throwing Muses return with their first studio-album in seven years - the fruition of an inevitable reunion of the classic foursome surrounding their through-the-eras formation.
It's timely, since the band never really closed their career properly in 1997. Ending due to a lack of financial rewards to be found in their enterprise, as opposed to a parting of no longer mutually-inclined musical minds, the conclusion of the 'Muses catalogue was always a sour shoulda-coulda-woulda career occurrence. Yet, after 2000's Gut Pageant - a fan-convention as organised for the band's online community - over 1,000 TM-obsessives showed up in Boston to celebrate the past of the group's produce; resultantly, a rapturous performance from the band ensued, in addition to live-sets from Bob Mould, and Tanya Donelly, the latter an original part of the band, prior to '92 when she left to form Belly.
The reunion was a success, and - in spite of the lack of monetary rewards for their main endeavour - the group decided to reform, and record in three weekends the basis of this record - a self-titled, 'quick and easy', raw back-to-basics rock 'n' roll record. Customary of the Throwing Muses tradition, songs gasp and rollick in their own brash feminine obedience, whilst guitars surge, throttle and tidal-wave alongside melodic refrains that belie the band's age. Notable therefore that, on the same day, lead-vocalist Kristin Hersh has decided to release her own, sixth solo album - a stark, acoustic-based work that's every bit as engulfing as her main interest, if not quite as immediate. So how do the two compare..?
The answer to the aforementioned, is that - musically - these are two very different animals. Throwing Muses' latest work - deemed to be the 'definitive' record of the band's by all involved - could be just that: a towering body of full-on compositions, it wriggles and tussles with boundless enthusiasm, scissor-kicking and gloatingly providing the most tunefully and instrumentally answerable, female-led act to The Breeders (well, they're all mates anyway).
'Mercury' opens up the cannon of matter, shooting off in all directions manically, though never existing as just a tad too volatile, whilst the sparkling 'Civil Disobedience' provokes a minor tremor. 'Pandora's Box' does exactly what it says on the tin, meanwhile, and 'Status Quo' is the greatest track ever (simply, and reassuringly, because it doesn't actually name-check the aged rockers of its title). With Donelly propping up for occasional harmonies throughout, and the sort of fresh-outta-the-studio clumsiness that most bands too commonly avoid embarking upon these days, this is untreated, epic material at its most terrifically un-translucent.
But how does Hersh's work, 'The Grotto', shape up, when ranked side-by-side with her full band-project? Notably, as uttered, due to its downbeat formality, it's a far more serious prospect to take stock of, words of comedy, pathos and melancholy passing through in a stark intimacy that sees her voice elongate and stretch into a hauntingly cold, desperate croak. Intensity-wise then, it's enchanting, enlacing stuff, bridging the gap between minimalist and fully realised. With occasional glimpses of piano and a single violin - used to blissful effect on a beguiling 'Vitamins V' - it's the kind of reflective, late-evening company that you've always dreamt about.
Two records, one day: both worthy of their place on the shelves. Kristin and co. may not reap as much from the cash-tree as they're faithfully entitled to, but as long as they keep this level of enthralling creativity in sight, then they'll at least be able to steal people's devoted adoration as a congratulatory consolation.
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