Violent Femmes
Emerging, literally, from the streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it gained notoriety through busking, this strange trio led by guitarist/vocalist Gordon Gano became a cult favorite with its 1983 debut album. Influenced greatly by Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers, the Femmes' minimalist sound pitted Gano's low-volume electric guitar against Brian Ritchie's acoustic bass guitar and Victor De Lorenzo's ashcanlike homemade drum kit--all of which only served to make Gano's angst-ridden adolescent tirades that much more arresting. Highlights here are the almost-rockabillyish "Gone Daddy Gone," the snotty "Kiss Off," and the emblematically nervous "Blister in the Sun." All in all, a fond reminder of the innocent days of alt-rock.--Billy Altman