4/5 stars
The good news is that the first new music from the Violent Femmes in 15 years sounds exactly like the Violent Femmes. Recorded on New Year’s Eve in Hobart and originally released for Record Store Day,
Happy New Year doesn’t take the band’s sound anywhere new, and you wouldn’t want it to, either. It is full of joy, and for a band that has endured its fair share of feuds and member-on-member lawsuits over the last 35 years, hearing these musicians having fun is pretty amazing.
If you’re a fan of Gordon Gano’s whiny yet energetic singing and big blowy saxophone lines, pick up this EP. The opening cut, ‘Happy New Year’, is a simple, goofy track that sticks a drunken smile on your face. It’s followed by the dark tango,‘Love Love Love Love Love’, and ‘Good For/At Nothing’,both of which have the enthusiastic bitterness of vintage Femmes. The EP is closed out by ‘Fast Horses’, a slower, reflective track featuring one of Brian Ritchie’s signature wandering basslines.
Violent Femmes are reportedly recording material for a new album as we speak, but for the time being, Happy New Year lives up to its name.
Violent Femmes’ Happy New Year is out on Planet/MGM.
