Hallowed Ground

After the incredible artistic success of their debut album, the Violent Femmes were left with the difficult challenge of following up an album of such singular mystery with something that wouldn’t disappoint their ardent cult following. <i>Hallowed Ground</i> is an emotive record that takes the brilliant, threadbare arrangements of their first work and fills it in with a sense of gospel noble truths that only the son of a Baptist minister could successfully challenge. “Jesus Walking On the Water” hits the floorboards of Americana and the title track injects more accessible pop sounds into their pitchfork militia. “I Hear the Rain” rallies the voices for a dizzying warning. “Country Death Song” plays with banjos and death like they belong together. “Black Girls” adds John Zorn and the Horns of Dilemma for some uptown action. But it’s the brutal seven minutes of “Never Tell” and the accompanying five of “I Know It’s True But I’m Sorry To Say” that deliver the knockout punch. Each song builds around singer Gordon Gano’s existential woes until he can do nothing more than let it blurt.