Riding the Wave

On Tuesday night, I'm going to voluntarily have my ears blown out. And I'm gonna pay $10 to do it, too.

Kristin Hersh has a new band, and it rocks. It's called 50 Foot Wave, and it grew from the ashes of the Throwing Muses, who released their final album last year. The talk about the last TM record was that it was recorded over the course of three weekends, with fire and energy a plenty! It's a speedy, loud, melodic crunch of an album, with the biting lyrics typical of Hersh and the sweet harmonies that she & her stepsister Tanya supply... But when it was over, Kristin didn't want to stop. However, Tanya Donnelly has daughter Gracie and a solo career to tend to, while Dave Narcizo also found that he wanted to spend more time on other interests a little closer to home.

Kristin has made some beautiful solo albums, but she has acknowledged that a solo record isn't the same as a band, And from a woman with an incredibly strong sense of family (her husband Billy also acts as her manager, while the kids and dog are always touring together), one can imagine the loss of the band. Anyone who has ever been in a band, or knows the dynamics of one, also knows that bands are like marriages - and the breakup of one can be as devastating as a divorce.

So while all the Muses remain friends (Tanya & Kristin & David started playing together while still in high school), Kristin and Bernard Georges - the bass player for the latter half of the Muses existence - grabbed a new drummer, went to California and started a new band. So welcome to Rob Ahlers, and hellllloooooo 50 Foot Wave!

Luckily for me, the band is doing a residency at a space near my home. Every Tuesday this month, Kristin and Co. will be playing at the Silverlake Lounge in LA. Last week, the venue was packed with displaced Bostonian musicians all catching up and rocking out. The band was tight, the music fast and loud. It was almost surfy speedmetal. Wha'? A mother of 4 screeching with a guitar, growling to the mic, eyes staring out to nowhere in particular? Yea, and the first time I saw 50 Foot Wave, one of her sons - maybe 7 years old or so - was doing his best pogo type thrashing in front of the drum kit. You go, boy! This time around, the band goes on around 10pm and gets off by 11, no kids in tow. They're probably at home with their favorite babysitter, Bob Mould, except I think he's touring. I'm not kidding; Bob Mould babysits for them. Last spring Kristin even told me that she was starting to think that he kept offering to babysit so he wouldn't have to see her perform.

Honestly, I saw the Muses a bunch of times, and Kristin as many times as possible. And I've never seen her like this. She is only a couple years older than me, and still a total inspiration. Middle age just ain't what it used to be, so check her out if you're in LA. If not, you know she'll be coming to a town near you soon.