50 Foot Wave

With 50 Foot Wave, Kristin Hersh unleashes a deluge of formidable rock only hinted at in her work with Throwing Muses and on her own. In the late '90s and early 2000s, her music with those projects was largely introspective and acoustic-based, so 50 Foot Wave's amped-up sound and direct lyrics -- introduced on 2004's self-titled EP -- were a distinct change of pace. Though 2005's debut album Golden Ocean proved the power trio had more than enough ideas to fill a full-length set of songs, they preferred short-form releases, and with 2006's Free Music EP, a pay-what-you-want release, their innovation extended beyond the studio and stage. Though the trio weren't as prolific as Hersh's other projects, palate-cleansing outbursts like 2016's Bath White continued to be a vital part of her work and influenced albums such as Throwing Muses' 2020 effort Sun Racket, and the trio sounded as mighty as ever on 2022's second album Black Pearl. After the release of Throwing Muses' second self-titled 2003 album, tireless singer/songwriter Hersh formed 50 Foot Wave with Muses bassist Bernard Georges and drummer Rob Ahlers (also of Chalk Farm). Conceived as a power trio, the project's name came from the sound wave of the lowest F tone audible by human ears. The band debuted with a flurry of shows that included a month-long residency at Los Angeles' Silverlake Lounge as well as international dates, and March 2004 saw the release of the 50 Foot Wave EP by the Muses' longtime label 4AD and Hersh's own label Throwing Music. The latter label also issued Live in Burbank and Live in Seattle, both of which emphasized how much heavier the band's sound was compared to Hersh's other work. In March 2005, the full-length Golden Ocean arrived, and Hersh balanced 50 Foot Wave's tours in the U.S. and Europe with her solo shows. That year, the group also released "Sally Is a Girl" (a song that appeared in the band's early set lists) as a single. In December, 50 Foot Wave made the Free Music EP available as a pay-what-you-want download on their website and as a physical product the following April. For the rest of the 2000s, Hersh balanced her solo career and duties with 50 Foot Wave. Along with her well-received solo album Learn to Sing Like a Star, in 2008 the band contributed a fiery cover of Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" to the compilation Souvenirs: Modern Covers of the Classics. Early in 2009, 50 Foot Wave made their entire catalog available for download on their website, including the upcoming EP Power + Light. Officially released in April 2009, the EP's seven tracks combined into a larger piece. Following Hersh's 2010 album Crooked, the trio returned with January 2012's self-released With Love from the Men's Room, a blistering set of songs recorded in Highland Park, California. As with the band's previous releases, the EP was issued with Creative Commons licensing that encouraged listeners to share the music freely. Hersh then spent a few years with her other projects, including the Muses' October 2013 album Purgatory/Paradise, before reconvening with 50 Foot Wave for May 2016's Bath White EP on the label Happy Happy Birthday to Me. As the 2010s became the 2020s, Hersh remained busy, releasing the October 2018 solo album Possible Dust Clouds, the September 2020 Throwing Muses album Sun Racket (which drew influence from 50 Foot Wave's heavy, layered melodies), and 50 Foot Wave's full-length Black Pearl in April 2022. Written in New Orleans, the album's sound encompassed shoegaze, psych-rock, motorik, and guitar tones bordering on grunge and metal. ~ Heather Phares & Andy Kellman