Freak Magnet -- the first new studio album from VIOLENT FEMMES since 1994's New Times -- truly captures the group at their best:  a bit punk, part acoustic, always sardonic and never afraid to speak their minds.  The album -- which includes 15 original tracks -- was produced by VIOLENT FEMMES and Warren Bruleigh and marks a more electric outing for VIOLENT FEMMES.  The group didn't completely abandon their acoustic punk rock roots though, as the plugged-in angst of "Hollywood Is High," "Mosh Pit" and "Sleepwalkin'" are matched by more bare, contemplative songs like "Forbidden," "All I Want" and "When You Die[sic]."

Freak Magnet, VIOLENT FEMMES' sixth studio album, is "a selection of recordings we've made in the studio over the last four years," vocalist/guitarist Gordon Gano says.  "Some of it is very eclectic, the opposite of (their live album, Viva Wisconsin).  There are a couple of songs that are completely acoustic and have that intimate sound."  And, he reports, there's also "A Story," a collaboration with French electronic experimentalist Pierre Henry.

Lyrically, the group continues to mix themes of alienation and (often sexual) frustration with a wry sense of humor.

Take "Mosh Pit," for example:

"Sleepwalkin'"

The names of rock 'n' roll's great live acts are carved into our consciousness like so many faces on Mount Rushmore -- James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, the Who, so many others.  But please make sure there's one other name on that list:  VIOLENT FEMMES.

Attending a VIOLENT FEMMES concert is like riding a whirling dervish of sounds, sight and frenetic fan participation.  The place throbs with a charged, youthful energy, with the fans often drowning out the band as they sing along to every word of the song.

And that's just the normal reaction.  When VIOLENT FEMMES rip into classics such as "Blister in the Sun," "Kiss Off," or "Add It Up," watch out for falling debris from the roof that's just blown off.

Simply put, at a VIOLENT FEMMES concert there's a deep, strong connection that occurs between the band and an audience that keeps adding new fans as each successive generation of rock devotees discovers its poignant lyricism and spirited songcraft.  But it's an appeal even the three group members have a hard time explaining.

"One thing that accounts for it is we're not working off a script like so many other bands do," explains drummer Guy Hoffman.  "We never carry a song list on-stage with us, so there's always kind of an anticipation from one song to the next -- not only for the audience, for us, on-stage."

Guitarist Gordon Gano, meanwhile, thinks it's the songs -- not surprising, given that he's the group's chief writer.  "So many people say that they're amazed that so many people sing along to our songs -- not just the chorus, but every lyric -- and say that's not something they see all the time at live concerts.'

Finally, bassist Brian Ritchie explains that it's a simple matter of dependability.  "People come to our concerts for one of two reasons:  either they've seen us before and want to have that experience again because they know it's extremely good, or they haven't heard us and want to hear the band who recorded "Blister in the Sun," "Add It Up," and "Kiss Off" play those songs live."

Then again, Ritchie speaks for the band when he concludes, with a laugh, that "I don't know what we're doing right, but we must be doing something right.  New people come back all the time."

Viva Wisconsin, VIOLENT FEMMES' first live album released (November 23, 1999), offered some indication about why that is.  Recorded before audibly vociferous crowds during a week-long tour of their home state of Wisconsin during October 1998 -- capped by tickets (a.k.a., gold in paper form) to the November 1 Green Bay Packers - San Francisco 49ers game at Lambeau Field -- Viva Wisconsin features 20 songs from VIOLENT FEMMES' 18-year canon, heavy on fan favorites such as the aforementioned classics plus "Country Death Song," "American Music," "Dahmer is Dead," "Gone Daddy Gone," Ritchie's throaty roar on "Don't Talk About My Music" and the politically charged "Old Mother Reagan."

"It's like a synopsis of the whole musical history of the band," Hoffman says,  "and it also gives the kids something to buy that might kind of be a memento for all the live shows they've come to see us at over the years."

What further distinguishes Viva Wisconsin is that the songs are all performed acoustic, a crucial part of the FEMMES' musical makeup that the group includes in every show it plays.  "I think something unique about the band is we rock acoustically," explains Gano.  "Acoustic doesn't mean sit down and make it mellow, which I think it does for most people.  You don't have to play softer 'cause you are playing acoustic."

Of course, the FEMMES started during 1981 in Milwaukee as an acoustic outfit -- though not necessarily by design.  "There wasn't a club in the city that would let us play," remembers Gano, the New York City-born son of a preacher who moved to Wisconsin with his parents when he was 10 years old, eventually hooking up with Ritchie and original VIOLENT FEMMES drummer Victor DeLorenzo (who was replaced by Hoffman in 1992).  With those doors closed, the trio decided to hit the streets.  Literally.  "We decided we knew the songs, we didn't want to keep rehearsing, so we decided 'Let's just go out on the street,'" Gano remembers.  "We had this idea we might make money, which wasn't the case, but it was a great experience to be playing music for people.  So (acoustic music) is really in the roots of the formation of the band."

The sidewalk sensation -- dubbed a "remarkably original folk-punk trio...singing intense, personal songs with remarkable candor" by the Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock -- was spotted by the Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, whose patronage resulted in an opening gig.  VIOLENT FEMMES subsequently scored their first recording contract, which led to their self-titled 1983 debut.  A timeless rock classic, it retains the group's cheeky, acoustic arrangements and contains the durable triumvirate of "Blister in the Sun" -- which was quickly embraced as an underground radio favorite -- the expression of eternal, unrequited adolescent lust "Add It Up" and "Kiss Off."  The rock world at that time hadn't heard anything like Gano's uniquely adenoidal vocals, frank (but deeply resonant) lyrics or VIOLENT FEMMES' hyped-up blend of folk, rockabilly and punk.

That sonic template continues to define VIOLENT FEMMES' sound, but the group has spent the past 17 years making equally bold stylistic twists and turns over the course of eight albums, embracing R&B, full-throttle punk, lush pop and even forays into polka and waltz styles.  Throughout that time the group has remained a strong live attraction, delivering the goods whether at a small club or in front of a few hundred thousand at Woodstock '94 or on eclectic package tours such as the 1998 Newport Folk Festival outing.

With Freak Magnet, fans are once again reminded just how vital VIOLENT FEMMES have been, and are, to the music world.  Here's hoping that they continue to, as the song says, "do it all the time."

### For more information, contact:
Ashley Smith (Beyond Music) 310-385-4815;  ashleys@lbank.com