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New Times

Violent Femmes - New Times Audio CD

A fair review of the Violent Femmes "New Times" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Violent Femmes reviews here, or go back to the Violent Femmes tabs.

Band: Violent Femmes
Title: New Times
Rating:

Release Date: 1994-05-17
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Don't Start Me on the Liquor 2: New Times 3: Breakin' Up 4: Key of 2 5: 4 Seasons 6: Machine 7: I'm Nothing 8: When Everybody's Happy 9: Agamemnon 10: This Island Life 11: I Saw You in the Crowd 12: Mirror Mirror (I See a Damsel) 13: Jesus of Rio

Critics are dumb...
I am extremely disappointed. . Not with this phenominal cd, but with the idiot critics that consistently maintain the narrow-minded concept that the Femmes will never live up to their first album.
This is a perfect example of how wrong that sentiment is. It opens up with a viscious punch in the junk ("Don't start me on the liquor. I'll drink it all down straight!") that's just as musically complex as it is fun to listen to. The whole album is the classic, bouncy, rhythm heavy Femmes I've come to love. It's far more diverse than their debut (as all of their subsequent cd's have been). Their first cd is more pop-driven, but by no means better.
I am the proud owner of every Femmes album, except Hallowed groud (which is on it's way as I write this), including the Aussie import, ROCK!, and they all rock my socks off.
Buy this. Buy it and love it.

The sound of something new
However, the SOUND is nothing like what you'll expect to hear. Technically, the Femmes' sixth studio album is no longer new in time, as it's reaching 13 years since its release. Think of the diversity of "Hallowed Ground" put with tunes that are ten times as bizarre. It's also a little bit less dark than that one. This is the result of guys who are trying something different and do well at it. My favorite track is "Amegmnon. " I didn't find this record to be at all disappointing. It is interesting to hear the band use different tempos, styles, etc. There's also "Machine" which attempts a techno-industrial sound and with humorous results, "Mirror Mirror (I See a Damsel)" with completely un-contemporary arrangement. You may not like this record, but you won't find it boring. Unless you think that the artist should have distorted bass all the time, but why would you be here in the first place.

I feel like this record does show the true Femmes as much as stuff like "Why Do Birds Sing?" The difference here is that they are highlighting their quirkiness, and I thought that was part of the charm of the first two albums. And they bring it back on here.

Took time to realize this is one of their best
Those are the unquestioned masterpieces you'll never regret buying at any price. If you're new to the Femmes, rush out to get Violent Femmes and Hallowed Ground immediately. You shouldn't stop there because the Femmes definitely have a lot to offer with their later work, but you should definitely start there. New Times shows a maturing Femmes stretching out musically. The songs are diverse in style and construction, running a gamut from Gano's solo guitar and voice on "I'm Nothing" to the intense pacing on "I Saw You In The Crowd" to the hilarious electronic experiment "Machine" and the completely unusual "Jesus of Rio. " I'm particularly fond of the moral angst and melancholy of "This Island Life. " Somehow it all works. Honestly, it took me quite a while to fully appreciate this record. At first listen, I didn't like it very much at all. But it's really grown on me to the point where I consider it easily the best of their post-Hallowed Ground records. I could live without hearing the one song some reviewers here seem to live best, "Don't Start Me On The Liquor," but the rest of New Times has become essential music in my collection. If the idea of the Violent Femmes challenging themselves to expand in directions appeals to you, eventually you'll probably love this record too. On the other hand, if your reaction to later Femmes music is usually "Why can't they make more songs like Blister In The Sun?" don't surprised if New Times goes over your head. .

First song was great, but what happend then???
A catchy, up-tempo song with that same vintage Femmes sound that we all know and love from their self-titled debut. The Femmes kick this album off right, with "Don't Start Me on the Liquor". This track also showcases the remarkable bass playing abilities of Mr. Brian Ritchie. (Possibly one of the most under-rated bass players in rock music!) Unfortunately I was a bit let down after that song, because the album takes on a completely different direction. It's a new wave kind of vibe featuring synthesizers and some other obscure instruments. I wonder if the lead off track was an older song that they had never released, and then just decided to put it out then since they were doing another record. As a fan of the band I can respect that they were trying something new, but unfortunately it didn't work well on this record.

An album proving that first impressions can be quite wrong
The Violent Femmes have changed quite visibly with the exit of Victor DeLorenzo and the entrance of Guy Hoffman on drums. New Times is an entirely appropriate title for this most eclectic of albums from a most eclectic band. I'll admit it took a few listens for this CD to really start appealing to me. There is a lot of experimental stuff going on here, with individual songs sometimes going off in about three distinct directions over the course of four or five minutes. The overall sound is markedly different in several places from what the Violent Femmes had done up to this point, with drums and deep bass beats often giving rise to a substantive, weighty atmosphere of surrealism and implicit melancholia. The guys have long played around with unique musical jam sessions of high strangeness, but they really indulge themselves on New Times. A number of instruments I haven't even heard of (e. g. , noseflute, tranceaphone, theremin, baglama) figure large in the music. Several songs end with extended periods of cacophonous orgies of sound, but the most unusual of all selections is the song Machine. Here, Gano recites unusual lyrics about building a machine to take over the world while something akin to electronic synthesizers pushes the song along; much more than throwaway experimentation, Machine does offer a serious message roiling around in its deep undercurrents of frustration. Agamemnon is another unusual song, ending with Gano literally shouting in the background.

There really are some great songs included on this CD. Don't Start Me on the Liquor is a typically fun Violent Femmes opening number. New Times, Breakin' Up, and 4 Seasons have a modernized yet vintage Femmes sound to them. I'm Nothin' is spectacular, foregoing everything except Gano's voice and guitar in its presentation. When Everybody's Happy reminds me to some degree of Good Feelings from the band's first album; of course, there is a melancholy aspect to this "happy" song on Gano's part. The final three tracks are the best on the album, in my opinion. I especially love Mirror Mirror (I See a Damsel), which evokes a pretty tender message, at least the way I understand it, while really putting the band through the paces. There is both a folk music and polka feel to this one, and the energy and tempo of the song steadily increase as the track speeds its way along toward a frenetic release. Jesus of Rio seems to feature at least three entirely different styles of music and rhythm, making it a quite memorable way in which to conclude this unusual yet somehow compelling album.

You can see a complete list of all Violent Femmes discography, or go back to the Violent Femmes tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.