Throwing Muses: House Tornado (Sire)

FIRST THING you hear is this voice. Singing or babbling like a little girl alone in the back yard, trilling like a crazy old woman. Sometimes the voice annoys you, sometimes it liberates. At first, the guitars are just dark rustling curtains, minor keys leaking from every fold. Drums beat a watchpiece confidence though, and the bass is warm, sinuous, guiding and luring out spindly melodies from the guitars. The playing is flighty, perhaps, but never unsure. The sound is bittersweet and comforting. You come to expect and delight in the little sounds: fingers dragging across strings, church bells out of nowhere.