577. Throwing Muses - Untitled (1986)




















Track Listing

1. Call Me
2. Green
3. Hate My Way
4. Rabbits Dying
5. America
6. Fear
7. Stand Up
8. Soul Soldier

Review

In the book this album is listed as self-titled, well that is a lie, this is actually an untitled album, the self-titled one is from 2003 and so we should try to avoid confusions by correcting the book here. Another interesting thing is that this album is pretty hard to find in this form, but you can get it easily in an even better one, the CD In a Doghouse collects this album in its correct order plus a bunch of other tracks.

And this is another instance of that rarity that is good music in 1986, and the next few albums are going to be good ones as well. Following Sonic Youth on the list Throwing Muses are also breaking new ground by reinterpreting some pretty big influences into music that is not only good but also extremely influential in its own right.

The tone of the music reminds you of the Pixies and all of those bands which are interrelated in 4AD like the Breeders for example. And this is really the first significant album from an American band in 4AD that would bring with it so many lovely bands in the nearish future. Kristin Hersh goes whole hog with her bipolar disorder here making some of the craziest but also most appealing and beautiful music of her career, with her disjointed lyrics and chaotic music which hangs together surprisingly well at the end. A great album.

Track Highlights

1. Rabbits Dying
2. Vicky's Box
3. Hate My Way
4. America

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

This was the first album by an American band to be released on 4AD, which had concentrated primarily on United Kingdom-based acts up to this point. This release marks a shift in the label's direction; a year later 4AD would sign the Pixies based in part on the band's connection to the Muses, and by the mid-1990s much of the label's roster was made up of American bands.

All the songs on the album were written by Kristin Hersh, with the exception of "Green", written by Tanya Donelly. The album was produced by Gil Norton, who went on to produce albums for the Pixies

Hersh doing Rabbits Dying last year: