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Violent Femmes Prep New Album As They Play Graceland With X

The Violent Femmes

“I don’t change the chords any more/ The chords change themselves.”

That’s the opening line from “Hotel Last Resort,” the title track from the new album by the Violent Femmes. The band, which formed in a Milwaukee suburb in 1981, became one of the biggest and most enduring acts to come out of the post-punk period. But unlike most of their counterparts, like American bands Husker Du and The Replacements, who formed in the Midwest around the same time, they weren’t playing electric guitars fast and loud. The ramshackle Femmes always sounded like they had just wandered in off the street, where they had been playing for change. This is pretty close to being the truth, as their big break came when The Pretenders saw them busking outside a Milwaukee theater and asked them to open the show.

Even though their air of studied amateurism attracted the cult around the band, the awkward teenagers were always looking toward the future. “I was fully committed to it being a career. Completely,” says singer and songwriter Gordon Gano. “That’s how I felt, and that’s how Brian Ritchie felt before we met.”

That ambition almost cratered the band before they even got started.“When we were first playing together, in the beginning of 1981, Brian and Victor DiLorenzo, our original drummer, were planning on moving to Minneapolis the next summer to start a band with people they knew there. They told me, this is fun, but that at the end of the summer they were leaving. This thing that we were doing, them playing my songs with me, was going to end at the end of the summer. Then, something happened with the people in Minneapolis. Without that, this thing called the Violent Femmes wouldn’t have happened beyond the summer of ’81. There would have been no recordings or anything,” says Gano. “We were all feeling really good about the music we were making together. It had a nice energy which we all thought was great, even though no one else did at the time.”

As punk got more “pure,” Gano’s songwriting got more eclectic, incorporating folk, country, and whatever else he was listening to at the time. With lyrics dripping with teenage sexual frustration and anchored by the frantic standup bass work of Brian Ritchie, their immortal single “Blister In The Sun” sounded like nothing else on the radio in 1982, or even a decade later.

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“There were a few people who liked it, loved it,” says Gano about their proto-folk-punk sound. “But most people didn’t know what to do with it. They just wanted us to go away. We’ve run into that our whole career, people who would be much happier if we just didn’t exist. I think the reason they’re like that is, the people who are supposed to be in the know, the people who are in the music business, from the very start told us we weren’t any good. I think those people are still around, and still exist. Basically, we shouldn’t be as popular or successful as we’ve been, according to this certain view of things in the industry.”

The Femmes have endured turmoil, ridicule, and lineup changes, beginning with a brief breakup in 1987 after the difficult recording of The Blind Leading The Naked with producer and former Talking Head Jerry Harrison — even though that album was their first entry into the Billboard charts and spawned a hit with their cover of T. Rex’s “Children Of The Revolution”.

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“That one was the worst time of what was going on in the band itself,” Gano recalls. “There were a lot of difficult circumstances. We were doing a lot of new stuff in the studio, with Jerry Harrison producing. It was the album which gives me the least enjoyment when I’ve heard it. But I probably can’t completely separate that from the experience of making the album. … I think with music, it’s so much about when you hear it. What’s going on in your life? How old are they? It’s impossible to hear music separate from what’s going on in one’s own life.”

Perhaps that can explain the Femmes’ enduring popularity. Gano’s compositions like the snarling “Add It Up” and the bitter breakup song “Nightmares” speak to people when they’re feeling awkward, alone, and also a little defiant. Everyone goes through a Femmes phase. “We thought we’d be either less popular than we’ve been for all these years, or more popular. We had no lack of ego in thinking about how well we play the music we play. All we knew about was the punk music we were into. You’d play the little punk rock clubs, and then you got really big. That was making it. The other end was the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and so on. There wasn’t anything in our mind in between. But that’s where we’ve had our whole career — the in-between area. And yet the longer we keep doing it, the closer we get to the Stone camp, in our little tiny way. We’re starting to put some years in. Certainly, we never thought about the number of years we’d be doing it. We’ve been playing music now longer than rock-and-roll had existed when we started playing. I can’t even really fully comprehend that. Time is … a subject we probably shouldn’t start talking about.”

When the Violent Femmes hit the Graceland Soundstage on Thursday, May 16th, it will be part of their ongoing tour with fellow old school punkers X. “We’re getting great reactions from people. We’re playing with X, which is a very fun double bill. I think it’s a great show, particularly with two bands accustomed to being a headliner. It’s been great.”
The new album Hotel Last Resort will be released in July. “I’m really happy with it. I suppose a lot of artists say ‘It’s some of our best stuff,’ so I’m trying not to say that,” says Gano.

But don’t you really think it is, I ask? “It is! It’s exceptionally fine craftsmanship for us!”

Violent Femmes Prep New Album As They Play Graceland With X

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Music Music Features

Beale Street Music Fest 2016: Who to Watch

Beale Street Music Festival recently released the complete musical lineup for this year’s weekend-long concert. Here’s a small sample of some of the talent that will be rockin’ on the river this year.

Friday, April 29th

Neil Young + Promise of the Real

Neil Young. On the river, the first night of Beale Street Music Fest. Do I really need to tell you to be there? Do you like music? Good answer. I thought we were about to have a problem. In all seriousness, if this doesn’t get you excited, you may need to check your pulse.

Weezer

These platinum-selling pop-punkers have been at it for over 20 years, releasing hit after hit in between throwing parties on cruise ships and collaborating with current stars like Best Coast. Weezer will be on tour with Panic! At the Disco, who are also playing Friday night.

Julien Baker

Memphis’ biggest breakout star of 2015 keeps killing it, landing a spot on Beale Street Music Fest after a solid year of touring and seeing her name on every music-media outlet that’s relevant. Her first album, Sprained Ankle made plenty of year-end lists, but we were already onto Baker before she became a media darling. See our cover story on her from last summer for proof.

Trampled by Turtles

Minnesota’s Trampled by Turtles have seen their fair amount of success since forming in 2003, and the alt-country band will be setting out on a long tour with the Devil Makes Three shortly after their performance on Friday night. No stranger to festivals, the band has also played San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits Music Festival, Firefly Festival, Rock the Garden, and the All Good Music Festival.

Saturday, April 30th

Yo Gotti

The king of Memphis has been on a tear lately, releasing hit after hit of club-ready, social-media-referencing rap songs. If Yo Gotti keeps up his summer show at Mud Island, this could mean that two epic outdoor Gotti concerts are heading your way soon. Yo Gotti put the city on his back, and his love for Memphis is well-known. Don’t miss Yo Gotti, and remember, it goes down in the DM.

Violent Femmes

Violent Femmes are no strangers to Memphis, having played the iconic Antenna club and, more recently, the Mud Island Amphitheater. The band has been active since 1980 and are best known for their quirky hit “Blister in the Sun,” although they’ve also had hits with “Kiss Off” and “Gone Daddy Gone.”

Cypress Hill

Who can forget the group that sang “Tell Bill Clinton to go and inhale?” Other than Snoop Dogg, no other artist or group personifies what it means to be a stoner better than Cypress Hill, the group that brought you songs like “Hits from the Bong,” “Superstar,” and “Dr. Greenthumb.” Cypress Hill were the first Latino-American rap artists to go platinum, and their music is immediately recognizable, as is B-Real’s high-pitched vocal approach. Get ready to go insane in the membrane.

Moon Taxi

Nashville’s Moon Taxi also earned a spot on Coachella, and their Day Breaker tour sees the band getting a slot on Beale Street Music Fest. Active since 2006, the band played the David Letterman Show and has had television placements from companies like BMW, HBO, the MLB, and the NFL.

Sunday, May 1st

Beck

Beck is back, only this time he’ll be at Tom Lee Park instead of the Mud Island Amphitheater. The Los Angeles singer/songwriter always puts on a great show, and his collaboration with Jay Reatard was proof that while Beck is definitely big time, he still keeps his ear to the underground. Anyone who was at his Mud Island show knows that Beck is not to be missed.

Paul Simon

Paul Simon has been a hit factory since the ’60s, cranking out songs like “Mrs. Robinson,” “The Sounds of Silence,” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” He was awarded the first Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2007 and has written music for Broadway and television. He’s been on Saturday Night Live 14 times and has 12 Grammy awards, making him one of the most successful artists on the entire Music Fest lineup.

Zedd

Grammy award-winner Zedd plays the last night of Beale Street Music Fest, and if the hype around this artist is any indication, his set should be a gigantic dance party. Mixing elements of electronic music with pop sensibilities, Zedd makes music larger than life, and he’s got the hardware to prove that he’s making some of the most influential music of the genre.

Alex da Ponte

Alex da Ponte just released her latest album, and the local artist is one of many worth catching over Music Fest weekend. On All My Heart, da Ponte wears her emotions on her sleeve, making for an earnest and honest album that will get stuck in your head after only a couple listens. Her song “Nevermind” is already a local hit, but don’t expect da Ponte to stay local for long.

Courtney Barnett

Courtney Barnett had a spectacular 2015 due to her amazing album Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit. We had her album and her Third Man Records single as some of our favorites of the year, so we’ll take credit for this one. You’re welcome.