The four members of Throwing Muses were still in their teens when they became the first American band to sign to art-rock label 4AD in 1985. Three-quarters female, they were led by singer-songwriter extraordinaire Kristin Hersh – just as Cocteau Twins’ Liz Fraser had redefined the female voice in British avant-indie, it’s arguable that Hersh would do something similar for US college rock.
Yet that’s a wholly inadequate description of Throwing Muses’ incredible self-titled debut album, which to this day sounds like nothing else. Utterly idiosyncratic and experimental, it’s the very definition of a progressive, boundary-pushing record, its fractured narratives and multipart, chorus-free arrangements possessed of a frighteningly intense energy.
