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Wednesday, July 7, 2004
Femmes
flourish despite cult status
By Rob Williams, Winnipeg Sun
Blister in the Sun is The Violent Femmes' hottest song.
The
classic slice of '80s alternative angst is the band's best-known number
-- which can be a blessing and a curse, admits bassist Brian Ritchie.
"I'm not the world's biggest Blister in the Sun fan -- I'm
a bigger fan of some of the other songs," he says over the phone from
his Milwaukee home.
"I think it says something about the media, when that song
came out there were a lot of other songs that became popular, but the
media wants to reduce you to one or two songs. In the end, even the
Rolling Stones will probably only be known for Satisfaction."
The trio -- Ritchie, vocalist-guitarist Gordon Gano and
drummer Victor de Lorenzo -- have been together since 1980 but are
still essentially a cult act whose quirky folk-punk sound never quite
managed to cross over into mainstream consciousness.
Not that they worry about the lack of commercial success.
The Femmes are revered among the cognoscenti and remarkably popular
among the college crowd -- most of their fans weren't even born when
Femmes released their self-titled debut in 1983, says Ritchie.
"That's one of the most interesting things about this band
and a mystery that can't be explained. It might have something to do
with the lyrics; the only thing going on to the adolescent mindset is
the lyrics," he muses.
Those lyrics -- mostly penned by Gano -- are
self-depreciating, funny, loathsome, depressing, sexy, nonsensical and
invariably dark.
"I've talked to so many fans who told me, 'If I didn't have
your music I wouldn't have made it through high school.' They can hear
how (messed) up Gordon is and it's like, 'OK, he's really (messed) up,
so that's OK, I'm not alone.' "
The Femmes re-released their first album -- which reached
platinum status without ever appearing on the Billboard chart -- two
years ago and are releasing a DVD in the fall. They have some new songs
in the bag and are hoping to record them next year for their 25th
anniversary -- a milestone Ritchie never imagined they would have
achieved.
"I wouldn't have even bet all three people would be alive, even if the
band existed or not," he laughs.
They are alive and play the Pyramid Cabaret tonight. Admission is $25.
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