Kristin Hersh - “Breathe In”

SXSW 2022 - OEB Score: 7; Popularity Index: 8

Pairs Well With…Liz Phair, Pixies, Throwing Muses

Throwing Muses’ Kristin Hersh continues to support 2018 record Possible Dust Clouds, translating her power-pop, indie rock roots to avant-garde rock settings, getting more experimental as she keeps moving forward heading into the fifth decade of her career. Post-punk jangle and garage rock crunch inform Hersh’s latest excursions, dense tracks loaded with psych-rock riffs and atmospherics. It’s exciting hearing an artist getting even more explorative so far into her deep catalog as Hersh concurrently acts as a powerful influence among her SXSW peers this year. (Kevin McStravick)

2020 Review: It’s impressive how creative Kristin Hersh sounds on 2018’s Possible Dust Clouds, her eleventh record since debuting as a solo artist a quarter-century ago with Hips and Makers. The Throwing Muses frontperson, who also have a record due in 2020, is loud and grungy on Possible Dust Clouds, letting in loose garage rock jams on tracks like “LAX” and “No Shade In Shadow” and even twisting Americana rooted songs like “Lethe” and “Lady Godiva” with yearning psychedelic edge.