Throwing Muses, Pixies, Belly and the 4AD revival

In the late 80s, my love of all things indie was in full flow. My teenage Saturday job budget, plus the other demands on my disappointinglly empty wallet meant my musical ambitions were often thwarted. Not helped by misguided forays into “fashion” (in its loosest sense) and impressing girls (sadly not in their loosest sense, far from it!)  - these took up a fair chunk of not very much.

Pixies, Brixton, 16th May 2025

I focused my limited spend on British indie bands and didn’t pay much attention to a growing wave of great, quirky, shouty US indie bands like Pixies and Throwing Muses (though I loved REM and they weren’t really “shouty”).

I loved their label, 4AD, but my initial purchases from that particular record label were pretty much limited to Cocteau Twins (I worshipped Liz Fraser - as any good hearted human should).

By late 80s / early 90s an ill advised journey into rock and prog further depleted my spending power, along with a penchant for leather biker jackets, suede pixie boots and worse, plus life as a student after the brief “cash in the hip” years, working in a bank, limited my spending power further still.

I eventually made time and budget for the Pixies and saw them in 1991 and was hooked. But Throwing Muses never quite took hold. Belly, the band formed when Tanya Donnelly left Throwing Muses, grabbed me (possibly initially because of a mahoosive crush on Tanya), in particular Feed The Tree.

Since then Pixies have regularly featured in my gig going, as and when they reform. And I saw Belly back in 2016 in London (quite splendid!).

However in 2025 I find myself seeing more and more of the US wing of 4AD in their various guises.

Frank Black at the London Palladium - 4th February 2025

I saw Frank Black, Pixies de facto Mark E Smith styled leader, in February, playing the whole of his Teenager Of The Year album. Last week I saw Pixies play possibly the best gig I have ever seen them do.

My friend Loz bought me former Pixie Kim Deal’s solo album which is amazing. Along with Mrs JO’B, we are all off to see her in June at the Roundhouse. We are properly excited.

Later this year I am going to see Belly here at Camden’s Electric Ballroom. And I am here tonight to see the band I ignored the most from this little cluster - Throwing Muses.

Over the last 39 years I have bought the odd single, made a note to properly check out their classic albums like Hunkapapa and The Real Ramona but never quite got round to it. Then a couple of years ago I picked both up second hand, along with Red Heaven. All three were great but I am still not sure I would have bothered going to a gig.

But latest album, Moonlight Concessions, is stunning. I will be that rarity at gigs, cheering the new songs more than the old favourites. Plus my friend in New Zealand raved about leader Kristin Hersch’s recent Auckland gig. These days Rich is more a deep house music connoisseur and DJ, so for him to be so enthusing about old school (admittedly quirky and occasionally spooky) indie, then that is a good sign.

I have made it in time for a superb set by support act Lande Hekt. Solid, jangly indie but with some real enthusiasm and tunes - proper tunes!

Throwing Muses soon follow and after a slow gothic (though NOT goth) start, the gig is a bit like being pummelled repeatedly (but in a good way). It is rammed. Absolutely chockerful. The crowd is as expected - ex students now in their 50s on a school night out.

Gig t-shirts are the dress code of the day. Hoodies, the occasional baseball cap, check shirts, selfies to prove they are “out out”, anxious checking of bags to assure themselves the work laptop is still there and phones to check offspring have not burnt down the family home.

There are some young goths (it’s Camden) and there are two people screaming “we love you”. Not sure it’s that sort of gig. I quickly relocate.

One middle aged guy with delusions of youth is sporting what can only be described as a tea cosy,, misusing this as a hat (hipsters, why…?). He barges through the side of the crowd, baffled and affronted that people might have turned up on time to see them. Oh for the good old days when the mosh pit would have dealt with him.

On stage it’s just Kristin on guitar with bass, cello and drums backing. If I heard right, her son Dylan is on bass and her partner (and former TM bass player) is on drums - a family affair. The songs pound you and then swing to cello backed sublime and sinister odes; Kristin’s voice is never less than bang on.

Counting Backwards in Camden

For me the highlights are Drugstore Drastic, Bo Diddly Bridge, South Coast, Static and Counting Backwards, the latter attracting an annoying number of mobile phones being held in the air to film “the hit”.

A great show, anyway and I am glad I dragged my knackered ass out on a school night. It occurs to me towards the end of the gig that 2025 is basically a 4AD renaissance. Pixies at Brixton earlier this month were breathtaking. 31 songs ploughed through with no fuss, bother or ceremony. Just, as Bowie once sang, “wham, bam, thank you ma’am” gusto. Nine tracks from Doolittle were the highlights for me, but the seven tracks from latest album The Night The Zombies Came were very strong.

Similarly, Frank’s solo gig at the Palladium in February was a stomper. Ok, the venue was a tad incongruous and being seated was somewhat odd. But the whole of Teenager Of the Year was a joy instead of a potential chore. Its eclectic set of pop and perverse worked brilliantly. The five tracks off Frank’s solo, post Pixies debut held up even better.

Into the pink?

I have very high hopes for Kim Deal in June and Belly in October, though I am going to the latter with three colleagues, so it is a little like a works outing! To be fair, teenage JO’B would be very impressed I am working with people who go to gigs some 40 years after my first!

Whilst these bands are long departed from the 4AD label, one has to think a “former 4AD festival” would sell like hot cakes. Imagine a day of

Pixies

Breeders

The National

Bauhaus

Future Islands

Throwing Muses

Cocteau Twins

Dry Cleaning

The Birthday Party

Bon Iver

Big Thief

Lush

The Wolfgang Press

Camera Obscura

Mojave 3

AR Kane

His Name Is Alice

Colourbox

I would be there like a shot.

Ok, you would need diplomacy skills hithertoo unseen on any world stage to get half of the bands in the same room, never mind on the same stage. And the rows about billing would be worth the price of entry alone.

But if you got an amazing designer to try and capture the brilliant genius of the late 4AD in-house designer, Vaughn Oliver, the tickets alone would be worth framing (and yes, it might be the only time I would buy a “souvenir ticket”).

What a gig! Anyway, for now I can dream…must try and fit in a gig by the Miki Berenyi Trio for my growing “4AD in 2025AD” gig list.

Tonight has been great. Despite being knackered, the Muses’ racket has cleared out the cobwebs and given me a burst of much needed energy. And it proves it’s never too late to go and see those bands you missed - and with an album like their latest, this is far from nostalgia.

As I leave, I buy a copy of Sun Racket, their last album before Moonlight Concessions. I really like one of its tracks, Bo Diddly Bridge.

Better than Bo Diddily?

As I wait to speak to the nice man on the merch stall I overhear a conversation - I may have missed something vital but an annoying American man seems to be trying to get a deal as he has previously bought $300 of merch from her gigs and rather cockily asks the man “do you want to sell the merch or not?”. One can’t help but assume the poison that is Donald Trump has seeped into the most unlikely of places - the indie band gig. The art of the deal? The arse of the deal, more like.

Do check out the new Throwing Muses album below. Stay safe, and if you enjoyed this, please subscribe (see link below), x