No college experience would be complete without the Violent Femmes. If you’ve never heard the name, you’ve at least heard “Blister in the Sun” or “Add it Up”, two paeans to adolescent horniness. Gordon Gano whines away about unrequited lust while Brian Ritchie thumps his ubiquitous bass line, and Victor de Lorenzo doesn’t seem to do much but hit a snare. I thought they were pretty much a 1980’s snapshot that no one before or since would care about, but when I went to call someone into work the other day, the nineteen year old girl had “Blister” on her phone.
Fact is, while their first self-titled album continues to be huge. It is nearly double platinum (two million sold) without ever being on the Billboard charts, they continued to record and tour quite successfully until 2007. While their recordings were hit-and-miss, they would tour the world to sold out crowds until legal problems brought them to heel. Alleged chief songwriter Gano sold “Blister” to Wendy’s over the public objections of Ritchie, and it went downhill from there. As of this ranting, Ritchie is suing Gano for half of the songwriting royalties of the band. While it’s hard to know to us outsiders exactly who did what in the studio, it is sad to see one of the great cult bands go down like this.
One way or another, Gano is moving on. In the fall he will release “Under the Sun” under the moniker Gordon Gano and the Ryan Brothers. It is his collaboration with Brendan and Billy Ryan, previously known as members of 1990”s indie band the Bogmen, but perhaps even better known as the guys behind movie scores like The Heartbreak Kid, Fever Pitch, and MO. They were all living close together in New York City, and began collaborating.
Under The Sun has many of the things that made the Femmes who they are. Gano’s vocals are in fine form, and most of the record hearkens back to the spare rock the femmes were known for. “Wave in the Water” and “In the Sand” sound like classic Femmes, but the undersexed rants are now replaced by real songs that have more acceptance and joy than the intensity and nervousness in his older band. They haven’t abandoned quirkiness, however. “Here as A Guest” follows along the lines of Gano’s spiritual songs (in the old days when he wasn’t singing about being horny, he was singing about being close to God), and also recalls his old band’s fondness for East European rhythms. “Under the Sun” is as down in the dumps as anything he does, while “The Way That I Creep” has the silly wordplay he has always been known for. They don’t really break new ground here, but sort of like Legendary Hearts-era Lou Reed, his songs sound more mature and he doesn’t seem to feel the need to write the tragicomic breakup anthems he was known for in the past.
It’s hard to say where this will go or what will happens with this collective or the Femmes, but it does show that Gano does have some cool new music, and isn’t quite ready to completely give himself away to the 1980’s oldies circuit.
You can hear the new record stream for free at the band’s MySpace page. http://www.myspace.com/gordonganoandtheryanbrothers
Fact is, while their first self-titled album continues to be huge. It is nearly double platinum (two million sold) without ever being on the Billboard charts, they continued to record and tour quite successfully until 2007. While their recordings were hit-and-miss, they would tour the world to sold out crowds until legal problems brought them to heel. Alleged chief songwriter Gano sold “Blister” to Wendy’s over the public objections of Ritchie, and it went downhill from there. As of this ranting, Ritchie is suing Gano for half of the songwriting royalties of the band. While it’s hard to know to us outsiders exactly who did what in the studio, it is sad to see one of the great cult bands go down like this.
One way or another, Gano is moving on. In the fall he will release “Under the Sun” under the moniker Gordon Gano and the Ryan Brothers. It is his collaboration with Brendan and Billy Ryan, previously known as members of 1990”s indie band the Bogmen, but perhaps even better known as the guys behind movie scores like The Heartbreak Kid, Fever Pitch, and MO. They were all living close together in New York City, and began collaborating.
Under The Sun has many of the things that made the Femmes who they are. Gano’s vocals are in fine form, and most of the record hearkens back to the spare rock the femmes were known for. “Wave in the Water” and “In the Sand” sound like classic Femmes, but the undersexed rants are now replaced by real songs that have more acceptance and joy than the intensity and nervousness in his older band. They haven’t abandoned quirkiness, however. “Here as A Guest” follows along the lines of Gano’s spiritual songs (in the old days when he wasn’t singing about being horny, he was singing about being close to God), and also recalls his old band’s fondness for East European rhythms. “Under the Sun” is as down in the dumps as anything he does, while “The Way That I Creep” has the silly wordplay he has always been known for. They don’t really break new ground here, but sort of like Legendary Hearts-era Lou Reed, his songs sound more mature and he doesn’t seem to feel the need to write the tragicomic breakup anthems he was known for in the past.
It’s hard to say where this will go or what will happens with this collective or the Femmes, but it does show that Gano does have some cool new music, and isn’t quite ready to completely give himself away to the 1980’s oldies circuit.
You can hear the new record stream for free at the band’s MySpace page. http://www.myspace.com/gordonganoandtheryanbrothers
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