The Fat Skier

Throwing Muses' 1988 The Fat Skier EP finds the group embracing an even more pop-oriented sound than that year's album, House Tornado. However, songs like the untamed, galloping "Soap and Water" and "Garoux des Larmes" -- which sounds like it was influenced by the band's friendship with the Pixies -- remain far outside the mainstream. "A Feeling" remains one of the band's hypnotic, sensual moments, while "And a She-Wolf After the War" reflects the increasing clarity of Kristin Hersh's songwriting. The Fat Skier ends with "You Cage," one of Hersh's simplest and most affecting ballads, reaffirming that what the Muses might have lost in volatility, they more than made up for with their work's newfound coherence. ~ Heather Phares