A Short History of Throwing Muses

The Throwing Muses were formed and based in Boston. They were the first independent, underground band with three women up front. At first they were a punky country type outfit but this soon gave way to a unique noisy guitar model that became pretty influential towards the end of the decade, the eighties. The main songwriter was Kristin Hersh. Her songs dealt with personal issues and led to some discussion about her feminist agenda, though the band never claimed any such thing.

Along with her half-sister, Tanya Donnelly, Kristin Hersh changed the Throwing Muses from their initial country-punk beginnings during their time spent living in Long Island. The band's drummer, David Narcizo, didn't own a drumkit and actually learned to play on a kit with no cymbals that he borrowed from friends. This lack of cymbals became a trademark of the Throwing Muses early sound. Their debut album was in fact a mini-album. Each song was full of forever changing choppy guitars that were as inventive as Narcizo's drumming. Over this, Kirsch sometimes screamed and wailed like a child having a tantrum and sometimes sang in her unique vocal style that has a folky base, sometimes sounding Celtic or trad. English. Then there are the odd harmonies from Kirsch and Donnelly when they sing together on their refreshing and infectious melodies which contain sometimes surreal and sometimes personal lyrics. It became the blueprint for the band and a truely unique blueprint it was too. The album was released in 1986 on the influential British label 4AD. This was the same label which signed the Pixies a year or so later, another fine Boston band. The two bands toured Europe together. The tour started with the Muses headlining and the Pixies supporting. However as the Pixies popularity grew the two bands had to switch so that the Throwing Muses were supporting. Even so, their first release is a fine debut, and few bands (if any) could have survived a tour with possibly the best alt.guitar band ever and remained as headliners.

Having released such a good debut it's difficult to understand why the band's subsequent releases were never as good. There were, of course, fine songs scattered throughout their back catalog, but the unique stylings of their debut had seemingly disappeared. The songs were best when Hersch played her guitar loud, though this was a somewhat limited trick. Fans had to wait until 1991 and the release of 'The Real Ramona' for them to pull themselves out of the creative valley they had found themselves in. The album 'Red Heaven' came after Tanya Donnelly had left the band to form Belly. This album proved to be a real return to form and the sound the band had made their own on their very first release. Once again the songs had hooks, but also real loud guitar set within subtle twists and turns of structure and form.

Hersh has released several solo albums which tend to be quieter than the Throwing Muses output, especially her debut 'Hips And Makers' which followed the back-to-form Muses album 'Red Heaven'. The album includes possibly her finest performance on the song 'Your Ghost'. She sings against a sparse piano with a beautifully controlled emotive performance. There, too, have been other Throwing Muses albums, notably 'University' in 1995 and 'Limbo' in 1996 and the members of the band have also released various solo albums. However the band will be remembered by their early unique songs which, no doubt, had some influence on the like of the Pixies and even Babes In Toyland.