Violent Femmes: Add It Up (1981-1993)
May 23rd, 2010I can’t even remember if we were lovers
Or if I just wanted to
But I held her in my arms, I held her in my arms
I held her in my arms
But it wasn’t you
- “I Held Her In My Arms”
I’m not really sure what to make of Violent Femmes, which is partly due to not being sure what to make of this album, which is partly due to not being sure what this album is intended to be. Add It Up (1981-1993) seems like it’s supposed to be a chronological greatest hits album covering the band’s first five albums, and it kind of is, but there are also a slew of odds and ends added in, like unreleased demos, live tracks, and an answering machine message. Add that kind of diversity to an already diverse set of genres (they handle everything from country to free jazz, including a performance with John Zorn), and you’ve got a scattershot record.
Of course there are the hits. There’s obviously “Blister In The Sun” from their 1983 self-titled debut, along with “Gone Daddy Gone” (with what’s likely to be the best xylophone solo in all of rock) and live versions of “Kiss Off” (with performances constructed to sound sloppy but that actually exhibit expert musicianship) and “Add It Up” from that disc that brashly exploded onto college radio.
That album was, and continues to be, the high water mark of the band’s career, though their remaining years weren’t a total loss. 1986’s The Blind Leading The Naked contained the Best Song Ever, “I Held Her In My Arms,” whose music perfectly matches it’s lyrics of unrequited longing by sustaining a long, held note on keys while the rest of the band reaches up to a higher register for the emotional chorus. A b-side from the same year, “Dance, Motherfucker, Dance!” is another highlight, consisting of little more than the two words in its title and the exultant affirmation of the titular exclamation mark.
But those moments of fabulousness are ruined by so much unlistenable material. I never knew the Femmes did “American Music” (“Do you like American music?”), but I also never noticed just how whiny it was. A quick count comes up with no fewer than nine (of 23) songs that are abrasive in all the wrong ways, veering from Jonathan Richman-esque faux-naiveté to “America Is”,” a, frankly, quite disgusting, reactionary, and unpatriotic criticism of the United States that makes even me cringe and wonder where the band might be happier (honestly, what country doesn’t have hypocrites?).
So it’s not a total waste, but due to the haphazard flow of the album and the wide variance in quality, this gives a very hazy view of the 13 years covered by this disc. But I have a feeling that is exactly what the band, seemingly a bit scattershot themselves, was going for.
Rating:

Best Song Ever: “I Held Her In My Arms”
Mixers: “Gone Daddy Gone,” “Dance, Motherfucker, Dance!”
Keepers: “Blister In The Sun,” “Gimme The Car,” “Country Death Song,” “36-24-36,” “I Hate The TV,” “Out The Window,” “Kiss Off (Live),” “Add It Up (Live)”
Filed Between: Vincent & Mr. Green (Vincent & Mr. Green) and Voivod (War And Pain)








