A View From Generation Z on the Violent Femmes-By Siri Harrison

​With a jangling guitar sound, meandering vocals, jarring lyrics, and rattling drums, the Violent Femmes 1983 self-titled debut is nothing short of unique. In a year where Huey Lewis and the News’ Sports was released, the Violent Femmes were ahead of their time. No band would have been more perfect for an appearance on MTV unplugged in the early nineties, because the Femmes maintained their massive punk energy mostly acoustically, even gaining one of their debut album hits- “Gone Daddy Gone” -with a xylophone solo. 
Their debut starts off strong with “Blister in the Sun” -which has now become a classic that’s reached beyond the ears of devoted Violent Femmes’ followers to become a favorite of mainstream listeners -and only gains energy as it tears through the grim but irresistible “Kiss Off.” Gordon Gano’s voice murmurs and groans its way through songs without losing momentum, embodying unbridled adolescence. Gano himself was only eighteen and in high school- that is, until his performance of  “Gimme The Car” at an assembly got him expelled -when he wrote the songs on Violent Femmes. It is an explosive debut that tore a hole in the rock scene of the early 80s, carving out space for generations of artists seeking to blaze their own trails. From its bouncy intro to its surprisingly beautiful conclusion, “Good Feeling,” the album gripped me and left me with a chill.