eli@uw-june (Eli Messinger) (05/25/84)
"Hallowed Ground" is the 2nd LP from everyone's favorite semi-acoustic- folk-punk trio (they'll never lose that tag, will they?) on Slash Records. Supposedly this album was going to contain a number of surprises--and in fact for those who haven't seen the Femmes live and on-tour, some of the styles may be a bit surprising. Most of the newness comes from songs that the Femmes performed on their last tour... "Jesus Walking on the Water," "Country Death Song" and "I Hear the Rain." There's a bit more twang on this LP, as well as some rather mind-bending jazz improvisations (or just raw sloppiness being passed of as such--I'm not sure). Certainly there's more of a religious tone--to be expected since the songwriter in the band (Gordon Gano) is the son of a (Baptist Minister?)... sorry, I can't keep track of everyone's particular religion. I find this LP every bit as good as the first, though there aren't any tracks as immediately (and permanently) catchy as on the debut. It's very refreshing to find a band who's second LP is something you like, after having discovered them through their debut effort. (As they say, you have 20 or so years to write your debut album, and then 1 to write the followup). ... uw-june!eli