Throwing Muses Tosses a Winner in Local Debut

Wow! Making its local debut at Bogart’s on Thursday, Throwing Muses swept up the capacity crowd and took it on a zig-zagging, enormously thrilling journey that was the sonic equivalent of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

There were plenty of surprises about the 65-minute set--all of them pleasant and most of the you-can’t-judge-a-band-by-its-cover variety. For one thing, the New England-based quartet appears very young and unassuming, but quickly and continually generated astonishing power on stage.

And then there’s Kristin Hersh, the Muses’ primary singer and songwriter. Though she has the cherubic look of someone you expect to see working at a Midwest ice cream parlor, Thursday--as the visual and verbal anchor for the band’s twisting, propulsive, constantly shifting soundscapes--she appeared absolutely possessed.

Gazing straight forward and rocking her head in a sort of Stevie Wonder fashion, Hersh delivered the songs with an ever-changing assortment of guttural growls, Yoko Ono yelps, repeated chants and smooth croons--which suits the lyrics. Hersh traffics in dark, painful territory--and apparently knows whereof she sings--but does so in a decidedly non-linear fashion with clipped, contrasting phrases and oddly juxtaposed images, leaving it to the listener to connect the verbal dots.

And still the Muses’ music--which can take a while to get the hang of on record--was instantly accessible Thursday. Throwing Muses closes out a two-night stand at Club Lingerie tonight.