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You've probably never heard of 50 Foot Wave. Which is quite a shame in general, but specifically if you, like me, grew up in the late eighties, early nineties and overdosed on anything and everything somewhat musically related to the Pixies. Which, ironically, was about the only band in the College Rock / Alternative Rock scene I wasn't listening to at the time. I got serious about music a bit after they hit the scene and missed (out on) them. But bands like Belly, The Breeders and Throwing Muses got, and still occasionally get, a lot of air time at my place. I had Last Splash on continuous play for days on end.
And even though they're a fine band as well, it's not The Breeders we're concerned with, but the Throwing Muses. That's because 50 Foot Wave is ex Throwing Muses front woman Kristin Hersch's by this time not so new anymore band. Formed a decade ago it features drummer Rob Ahlers and ex Muses Bernard Georges on bass. And they rock hard. In ways both reminiscent of the Throwing Muses and distinctly their own.
Exhibit A: Clara Bow from their 2005 release Golden Ocean. While the breaks give it a slightly more contemporary feel and the song is more up tempo than most of the Muses's were, Clara Bow features the heavy use of distortion and melodic vocals one would expect to find in one. As such it would have been right at home in the 90's. It's right on and straight up. Which is good news for any fan of the genre in general and the Muses in particular.
As and added bonus the clip accompanying the song is rather excellent as well. The concept is pleasently simple: feauture the band, and what I presume is a young son of one of the members, in white clothes on a black background and vice versa. It's a clean look which avoids unnecessary and distracting convaluted imagery and symbolism. This also could have turned it into a rather boring clip. That fortunately didn't happen.
There's a couple of reasons as to why. The aforementioned kid, as well as the band, look like they're enjoying the hell out of themselves and that's always fun to see. More importantly though the clip features kinetic type in the form of the lyrics flashing across the screen. It's well done and gives the feeling the band is actually inhabiting the song. Which is a cool feeling. I love the long drawn out line of i's in bitch in the chorus. And last but not least: the editing is excellent. The visuals fit the flow of the song and hit the accents spot on. With quite a bit of sharp cuts that make this not just a pleasure to listen to but to watch as well.
Some links:
Kristin Hersch's site, also home of 50 Foot Wave: www.kristinhersch.com
For the music they released under creative commons (with tip jar): 50footwave.cashmusic.org
For your viewing pleasure:
And even though they're a fine band as well, it's not The Breeders we're concerned with, but the Throwing Muses. That's because 50 Foot Wave is ex Throwing Muses front woman Kristin Hersch's by this time not so new anymore band. Formed a decade ago it features drummer Rob Ahlers and ex Muses Bernard Georges on bass. And they rock hard. In ways both reminiscent of the Throwing Muses and distinctly their own.
Exhibit A: Clara Bow from their 2005 release Golden Ocean. While the breaks give it a slightly more contemporary feel and the song is more up tempo than most of the Muses's were, Clara Bow features the heavy use of distortion and melodic vocals one would expect to find in one. As such it would have been right at home in the 90's. It's right on and straight up. Which is good news for any fan of the genre in general and the Muses in particular.
As and added bonus the clip accompanying the song is rather excellent as well. The concept is pleasently simple: feauture the band, and what I presume is a young son of one of the members, in white clothes on a black background and vice versa. It's a clean look which avoids unnecessary and distracting convaluted imagery and symbolism. This also could have turned it into a rather boring clip. That fortunately didn't happen.
There's a couple of reasons as to why. The aforementioned kid, as well as the band, look like they're enjoying the hell out of themselves and that's always fun to see. More importantly though the clip features kinetic type in the form of the lyrics flashing across the screen. It's well done and gives the feeling the band is actually inhabiting the song. Which is a cool feeling. I love the long drawn out line of i's in bitch in the chorus. And last but not least: the editing is excellent. The visuals fit the flow of the song and hit the accents spot on. With quite a bit of sharp cuts that make this not just a pleasure to listen to but to watch as well.
Some links:
Kristin Hersch's site, also home of 50 Foot Wave: www.kristinhersch.com
For the music they released under creative commons (with tip jar): 50footwave.cashmusic.org
For your viewing pleasure:
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