Review by Jon Pareles / NY Times
50 Foot Wave is a succession of angry blows that end too fast to hurt. Much as the bandname’s promise of tsunami torrents fits the magnitude of Hersh’s distortion, a sleeker metaphor might have suited them better– something like a hyper-tuned sports car, that can take the corners of the band’s multi-sectioned math-rock and run you down like so many pylons.
At this intensity, the six songs– already broken into quick changes and hastily-dropped riffs– can fly like an undifferentiated blur. These aren’t songs you’ll get attached to, and if the band doesn’t push its parameters, you may not need more than one EP at a time. And, of course, Hersh can release that way if she chooses, like postcards from the road. You can credit a lot of the date’s exuberance to that marketing plan: After years of fighting with record labels, struggling for money and releasing albums on someone else’s schedule, Hersh has total control of the product. Younger bands play this hard because they’re just psyched to record; mature bands sound this excited because they know they’re getting the money. — Chris Dahlen / Pitchfork
Hold the introspection: 50 Foot Wave, the latest band led by Kristin Hersh, who founded Throwing Muses, cranks up a punky guitar frenzy on its self-titled debut EP (Throwing Music). In songs fueled by wounded fury, the music holds on to the tightly wound, shifting meters of Throwing Muses, but punches harder while the lyrics grow confrontational. These songs should roar from the stage…