FFWD Weekly
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CD Review by Mary-Lynn McEwen Violent Femmes Freak Magnet EMI · Sixth studio album is the trio’s first new material since 1994’s New Times. There’s more electric camp served up by these masters of the backside than old fans are used to, but it’s still like Violent Femmes borrowed a piece of the Rolling Stones logo to make their tongues swell even more inside their cheeky attitude. The album feels instantly familiar, like walking into a McDonald’s 1,000 miles from home and knowing you’ll recognize the decor, even though you’ve never been in that town before. ’Cause fresh as the album sounds, with its slightly bulked-up rhythm section, vocalist Gord Gano still dryly dribbles out a script for the theatre of the absurd, which in this case – whether commenting on teenage escape into the mosh pit or singing, "Come with us and play/ See, we have breasts as women!" – is the theatre of life. And the damn tunes are catchier than a fast food commercial. Beware of these songs sloshing around your subconscious and serenading your insomnia. 4/5

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