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Sun.” In 1984, that reckless experimentation alienated many fans drawn by the prior year’ s bristling pop. Ironically, a high-school-aged Gano had written all of the songs for Hallowed Ground in the same batch that had produced the material recorded on Violent Femmes’ first album. Country and American roots music influences share space with punk and electrified pop sounds on songs, including the title cut“ Hallowed Ground,” foreshadowing alt-country acts like Uncle Tupelo. Ritchie colors the agitated but atmospheric“ I Hear the Rain” with marimba and switches to gritty electric bass leads to reflect the dark secrets of“ Never Tell” while Gano plays tremolo-drenched electric guitar. The grim fable of filicide“ Country Death Song” is given cinematic character by Tony Trischka’ s Appalachianstyled banjo. Gano sings the eerie tale of a poverty-stricken man driven mad by his circumstances and his ensuing crime.“ She was screaming as she fell, but I never heard her hit,” the father says after sending his young daughter down a well and to her doom.“ Black Girls” features avantgarde woodwinds by John Zorn and a rumbling mid-century jazz beat – not to mention Ritchie’ s cartoonish jaw harp. The controversial song is an equal opportunity offender while prodding at the hot buttons of race, sexual preference, and religion.“ Sweet Misery Blues” includes New Orleans-styled flourishes from the Horns of Dilemma. Gano’ s voice on the song drips with the youthful angst and paranoia that marked the band’ s earlier singles, but elsewhere on“ Jesus Walking on the Water” and“ It’ s Gonna Rain,” the band is conscripted into Gano’ s fondness for Gospel folk. Gano would explore his fascination with songs of faith further during the‘ 80s with the side project Mercy Seat. The religious elements were an additional polarizing element among fans upon the release of Hallowed Ground and were reportedly a source of internal friction among the band members. In retrospect, the album resonates as fearless and honest art. With Hallowed Ground, the Violent Femmes were resolutely true to themselves.
– Jeff Elbel
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THE ROLLING STONES Welcome to Shepherd’ s Bush Blu-ray + CD( Mercury Studios)
Amid a summer 1999 stadium run, the Rolling Stones took a side trip during their No Security tour to play a hometown gig before 1800 lucky fans at Shepherd’ s Bush Empire. In what must have been a treat for the band itself as much as for fans who returned to attend the massive shows that followed at nearby Wembley Stadium, the Stones shook up the set list at this“ secret gig” to include a half dozen deep cuts rarely or never played on the rest of the globetrotting tour. The biggest surprises include the swinging blues of“ Melody” from the 1976 album Black and Blue, propelled by Darryl Jones’ loping bass line and spiked by Michael Davis’ hot trombone solo. The portrait of a femme fatale had been performed only once when supporting the album in 1977, and it hasn’ t been performed since this 1999 outing. Also included is the Stones’ only performance to date of“ Moon is Up” from 1994’ s Voodoo Lounge, launched by Keith Richards’ watery guitar lick and punctuated by Mick Jagger’ s harmonica.“ I Got the Blues” from 1971’ s Sticky Fingers is another hidden gem introduced by Jagger as“ a soul thing like Otis Redding used to do.”“ This is very slow, so we have to slow ourselves down mentally to get into the groove for this one,” he says. The band seems energized by the return to their old stomping grounds.“ Welcome to Shepherd’ s Bush,” says Jagger soon after the show begins.“ I’ ve been waiting to say that for a little bit.” The singer cheekily welcomes old friends, new friends, wives, and ex-wives in attendance.“ And that’ s just Charlie,” he quips, igniting a chant of beloved drummer Charlie Watts’ name from the audience. Richards adds a similar sentiment before leading the rootsy“ You Got the Silver.”“ It’ s good to be home, I’ m telling you now,” he says. Agitated Some Girls single“ Shattered” makes its second and final appearance for the year, as does Exile on Main Street’ s rowdy“ All Down the Line.” The latter song features Ronnie Wood’ s woozy slide guitar solo, Chuck Leavell’ s sparkling piano, and a bristling brass section. Voodoo Lounge single“ Brand New Car” receives its only outing for 1999, as Wood’ s wah-wah guitar spars with Richards’ Chuck Berry-styled guitar lines. In close proximity to the band, the audience can be heard singing along to
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APRIL 12, 2025 |