Throwing Muses – Throwing Muses 40th Anniversary Reissue

Today, Throwing Muses announce the reissue of their self-titled debut, originally released in 1986 and long out of print, out on December 11 to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

Remastered by Kevin Vanbergen and featuring original artwork by Chris Bigg (v23), the anniversary reissue will be available digitally, on Standard Black LP, limited Oxblood LPE, and CD. Special edition T-Shirts will also be available to pre-order with the record from the 4AD store and Bandcamp.

The Rhode Island band of Kristin Hersh, Tanya Donelly, Leslie Langston, and David Narcizo released their debut while they were still in their teens, to widespread critical acclaim and astonishing reviews. Throwing Muses is a masterpiece of jarring time signatures and visceral emotion that completely shifted 4AD’s identity away from UK goth-pop, laying the groundwork for 1990s American alternative rock. The first American band ever signed to 4AD, they went on to release seven studio albums and two major EPs on the label.

Possession is a loaded word, but the songs of Throwing Muses were a direct result of a car accident Hersh suffered as a teenager that left her with serious injuries and “a lightning rod to the skull” that caused her to hear music no one else heard – music with jagged edges and unexpected melodic leaps. This record was recorded while Hersh was eight months pregnant; her child and child-songs merging in the studio.

4AD label chief at the time, Ivo Watts-Russell, funded the project, having found himself listening to their self-released cassette while caught in traffic: “I listened three or four times in a row. There was something so exciting about them – reminded me of The Birthday Party – the energy the lyrics. The music was hard and aggressive, but the more you lived with it, the more their beauty came through”. That combination of aggression and beauty, both intricate and primal, feverishly complex yet intensely melodic, elevates Throwing Muses to even headier heights.

40 years on, Throwing Muses has not lost one atom of its ability to thrill, mesmerize, unnerve and surprise, with a strong, underrated influence on the alt rock, grunge and riot grrrl scenes that followed. The story is ongoing, with Throwing Muses continuing to record and tour, and offshoot projects like 50 Foot Wave, Lakuna, and solo projects. This, though, is the record where a whole family of music began.

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