| Sun Racket | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 4, 2020 | |||
| Recorded | February–June 2020 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 34:28 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | Fire Records | |||
| Producer |
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| Throwing Muses chronology | ||||
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Sun Racket is the tenth studio album by American alternative rock band Throwing Muses. The album was released on Fire Records on September 4, 2020, and has received positive reviews from critics.
Although it had been seven years since Purgatory/Paradise and a decade prior to that since Throwing Muses , primary songwriter Kristin Hersh had continuously been writing songs both for this band and her project 50 Foot Wave and the songwriting for this album was influenced by the harder rock sound of the latter band. [1] She was only motivated to make a new Throwing Muses album once she had the right songs that sounded appropriate for this group: according to Hersh, the distinction is so stark that she has written them in a fugue state as a response to post-traumatic stress disorder and has no memory of their composition. [2]
The first single from the album, "Dark Blue", was released in February 2020. [3] The second single, "Bo Diddley Bridge", was released in July, [4] and the third, "Frosting", in August. [5]
The album had a planned release date of May 22, 2020 [3] but was later delayed to September 4, 2020. [6]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.8/10 [7] |
| Metacritic | 83/100 [8] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [9] |
| The Arts Desk | [10] |
| Louder Than War | 4/5 [11] |
| Mojo | [12] |
| musicOMH | [13] |
| Tom Hull – on the Web | B+ (  ) [14] |
| Uncut | 8/10 [15] |
| Under the Radar | 8/10 [16] |
According to the review aggregator Metacritic , Sun Racket received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 83 out of 100 from five critic scores. [8] Album of the Year summarizes critical consensus as an 80 out of 100, based on seven reviews [17] and AnyDecentMusic? scores it a 7.8 out of 10 with five reviews. [7]
Writing for Louder Than War , Nathan Whittle gave the release four out of five bombs, summing up the release as "a wonderful return for Throwing Muses and one that sees them really channeling their best". [11] The editorial staff of AllMusic also gave the album four out of five stars, with reviewer Heather Phares and stated that, "the sheer density of Sun Racket makes it something of a grower, but fans will be more than willing to take the time to let these songs sink into them". [9] In Bust , Michael Levine calls this "a standout moment in this seminal band’s musical canon". [18] Online music platform Bandcamp highlighted this as Album of the Day, with Mariana Timony summing up that Sun Racket "has the sense of being poised between the material and the immaterial worlds, one foot in the earthiness of visceral rock music and the other in the magical realm from which springs that rarest of musical gifts: chemistry". [19] Andy Von Pip of Under the Radar gave the release an 8 out of 10 for having 10 "near-perfect songs". [16]
Reviews from British outlets The Arts Desk , Mojo , and musicOMH all assessed Sun Racket as four out of five stars: for the first, Guy Oddy calls Sun Racket "floaty and ethereal melodies blend and twist around the raw and the primal to produce something truly magnificent, as Throwing Muses cast a disorientating but wholly satisfying spell with their first album in seven years", [10] followed by Sam Shephard due to the duality of "dark and light, loud and quiet, beautiful and ugly [with] the oppositional forces combin[ing] with powerful effect" for "songs worth revisiting over and over again", [13] and Mojo's Matin Anson praising the diversity of sounds as well and Hersh's willingness to experiment as a songwriter. [12] In Uncut , Daniel Day Wray gave this release an 8 out of 10 for "seamlessly blend[ing] discordance with harmony". [15] David Taylor of The London Evening Standard writes that Sun Racket is "as accomplished as when the band were in their late-Eighties/early-Nineties pomp" [20] and Sean Kitchling of The Quietus hopes "this album might also serve to bring word of Throwing Muses inspiring music to a new generation". [21]
Throwing Muses
Additional personnel
Throwing Muses are an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects.
Rose Polenzani is an American folk musician. She was raised in the Chicago area and attended Knox College before leaving to pursue a singing career. She is currently living in Boston, Massachusetts. She plays guitar and, less frequently, piano. Her lyrics often blend obscure images and emotions.
Martha Kristin Hersh is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter known for her solo work and with her rock bands Throwing Muses and 50FootWave. She has released eleven solo albums. Her guitar work and composition style ranges from jaggedly dissonant to traditional folk. Hersh's lyrics have a stream-of-consciousness style, reflecting her personal experiences.
50 Foot Wave is an American alternative rock band, formed in 2003. The band is fronted by Kristin Hersh, who writes the group's songs with collaborative efforts from the other group members in composing and arranging the music. The group's name is a reference to both an illustration and the term for the 50-foot sound wave of the lowest F tone audible to the human ear. The band sometimes abbreviates its name as L'~, using the Roman numeral for 50.
Tanya Donelly is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New England. She came to prominence as a co-founder of the band Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh. Donelly went on to co-form the alternative rock band The Breeders alongside Kim Deal in 1989, before leaving to front her own band Belly in 1991. By the late 1990s, she settled into a solo recording career, working largely with musicians connected to the Boston music scene.
The Real Ramona is the fourth studio album by Throwing Muses, released in 1991. It peaked at number 26 on the UK Albums Chart.
Hips and Makers is the debut solo album by Kristin Hersh, best known as the primary singer and songwriter of the band Throwing Muses. The album was released by 4AD in the UK on January 24, 1994, and by Sire Records in the US on February 1, 1994. In contrast to Hersh's rock-oriented work with Throwing Muses, the album is primarily acoustic, with Hersh usually playing unaccompanied. Other credited musicians include Jane Scarpantoni on cello and Michael Stipe of R.E.M., who sings backing vocals on the opening track, "Your Ghost". In addition to Hersh's own material, the album features a cover of the traditional song "The Cuckoo".
Hunkpapa is the third studio album by Throwing Muses, released in 1989. It peaked at number 59 on the UK Albums Chart.
House Tornado is the second studio album by the alternative rock band Throwing Muses. Produced by Gary Smith and engineered by Paul Q. Kolderie, it was recorded at Fort Apache Studios in Cambridge, MA. The album was released in 1988 internationally on the 4AD label, except in the United States, where it was released by Sire Records. Sire used a different album cover for its release, as the label was putting a strong promotional push behind the band, and label executives favored a picture of the band over the collage featured on the 4AD release.
Throwing Muses is the 1986 debut album of the band Throwing Muses, released on British independent label 4AD. This was the first album by an American band to be released on 4AD, which had concentrated primarily on British-based acts up to this point. The release marked a shift in the label's direction; a year later 4AD would sign Pixies based in part on the band's connection to Throwing Muses, and by the mid-1990s much of the label's roster was made up of American bands.
Learn to Sing Like a Star is Kristin Hersh's seventh solo album and was released in the US on Yep Roc Records on the 23 January 2007 and on 4AD for the rest of the world on the 29 January. The album was produced by Kristin herself and mixed in Nashville by two-time Grammy winner Trina Shoemaker. It features her Throwing Muses bandmate David Narcizo on drums and with strings by the McCarricks. The album peaked at #27 on the US's Billboard Top Heatseekers Album Chart.
The Grotto is the sixth solo album released by Kristin Hersh. It was released on 17 March 2003 on 4AD records, simultaneously with the self-titled album from Hersh's band, Throwing Muses. It features Howe Gelb on piano and Andrew Bird on violin. Kristin Hersh produced the album as well as playing all other instruments. The album peaked at #39 on the US's Billboard Top Independent Albums Chart.
Throwing Muses is the eighth studio album by the alternative rock band Throwing Muses. It was recorded over three weekends and released simultaneously with Kristin Hersh's solo record The Grotto on 17 March 2003. The album features Bernard Georges on bass and David Narcizo on drums as well as original bandmate Tanya Donelly on backing vocals.
University is the sixth studio album by the American alternative rock band Throwing Muses, released in 1995. It contains the single "Bright Yellow Gun", the band's first national hit.
Red Heaven is a studio album by the American band Throwing Muses, released in 1992. It peaked at number 13 on the UK Albums Chart. Throwing Muses promoted the album by touring with the Flaming Lips. "Firepile" was released as a single.
Limbo is the seventh studio album by the American alternative rock band Throwing Muses, released on Rykodisc in 1996. It was recorded at the New Orleans studio where the band had recorded University. Following a tour for the album, Throwing Muses were dissolved, with Kristin Hersh continuing her solo career and David Narcizo and Bernard Georges working on several personal and music projects including Hersh's. The album, engineered by Trina Shoemaker, also features cellist Martin McCarrick and Robert Rust on piano.
The Pretty Things is the self-titled debut album by the English rock band Pretty Things. Released in 1965 in alternate track listings in the United Kingdom and United States, the album demonstrated the band's raw, loud sound, influenced by American rock and roll musician Bo Diddley.
Rat Girl is a memoir published in 2010 by Penguin Books and written by Kristin Hersh, a guitarist, songwriter, and singer who has performed as a solo artist, and as guitarist/lead singer of the alternative rock band Throwing Muses. In the U.K., it was released with the alternate title Paradoxical Undressing.
Purgatory/Paradise is the ninth studio album by Throwing Muses. The album was released in the form of a book containing song lyrics, artwork and a code to download additional music. The album was named after Purgatory Road and Paradise Avenue, two roads that intersect in Middletown, Rhode Island.
Clear Pond Road is the eleventh studio album by American musician Kristin Hersh, released through Fire Records on September 8, 2023.
