Throwing Muses revisit their debut on its 40th anniversary

By Grace Kim

4AD will reissue Throwing Muses on December 11, 40 years after the Rhode Island indie rock band released its self-titled debut in 1986. The album had long disappeared from print and streaming. According to 4AD, it was the first full-length album by the first American band the label ever signed, and the deal marked a major inflection point in 4AD’s history.

What does the reissue change for listeners?

For listeners, the practical change is access to a debut unavailable in print and on streaming for years. The reissue also places the first full-length release from 4AD’s first American signing back in the label’s catalogue, making the record and the label’s change of direction legible as one history.

The announcement’s list contains the album’s 10 songs and names no bonus material. Its focus therefore falls on the original program, not on new recordings or a revised version of the band. The anniversary makes a foundational label release available for examination beyond the moment that produced it.

A debut made after a crash

The 1986 quartet comprised vocalist Kristin Hersh, guitarist-vocalist Tanya Donelly, bassist Leslie Langston and drummer David Narcizo. All four were teenagers, and Hersh served as the band’s primary lyricist.

4AD’s reissue account says the album largely grew from a car accident that left Hersh, then 16, with a rod in her skull. In the aftermath, Hersh said, she began hallucinating songs of the kind the band would later release as its snarling tracks.

Hersh wrote in her 2010 memoir Rat Girl: “I can’t even remember what it was like to hear a song that didn’t grab my face and shout at it,” and continued: “Must’ve been soothing. But this is electrifying.”

4AD’s American turn

According to 4AD, signing Throwing Muses shifted the label toward American alternative rock. The label cites the Pixies, which it signed in 1987, as an example of that direction.

Throwing Muses went on to release seven albums and two EPs on 4AD. An EP is a short-form release, distinct from a full-length album. The group’s most recent LP, or full-length album, was Moonlight Concessions in 2025.

The group has also spawned multiple additional bands, including 50FootWave and Lakuna, which the announcement describes as side projects. Their formation shows the 1986 quartet’s activity continuing beyond the Throwing Muses name.

The songs on the reissue

4AD’s track list contains 10 songs. It runs as follows:

• Call Me
• Green
• Hate My Way
• Vicky’s Box
• Rabbits Dying
• America (She Can’t Say No)
• Fear
• Stand Up
• Soul Soldier
• Delicate Cutters

Why the anniversary matters

The anniversary edition brings three connected histories into one object: Hersh’s writing after the crash, the teenage band that released the debut and 4AD’s turn toward American alternative rock. The announcement also points readers to Katherine St. Asaph’s Sunday Review of Throwing Muses, which supplies a contemporary critical account for comparison.

On December 11, the reissue will put the starting point of 4AD’s first American signing back into circulation. The post-crash songs, teenage lineup and 10-track sequence give the anniversary a concrete subject, rather than a retrospective label alone.