BUZZ BANDS

The new Hersh: ‘loud and fast’

Through more than a dozen albums with Throwing Muses and as a solo artist, Kristin Hersh’s muse has assumed myriad voices -- moody, reflective, heady, engaging, cryptic, challenging. Recently moved to Southern California, Hersh is ready to “come out swinging,” she says, with 50 Foot Wave, a new trio that includes Muses bassist Bernard Georges.

The band, which has recorded a six-song CD, performs on Tuesday nights through Jan. 27 at the Silverlake Lounge. “It’s loud and fast and doesn’t sound anything at all like Throwing Muses,” Hersh says. Bring earplugs. Drummer Rob Ahlers’ hero is Animal from “The Muppets,” and Hersh gleefully reports that his playing “sounds like someone throwing a drum kit down a flight of stairs.” Might fans who bonded with the whispery acoustics of her 2003 solo release, “The Grotto,” be shocked at the calamity emerging from a 37-year-old mother of four sons ranging in age from 17 to 1? “Maybe I’m just old enough to not [care] about what people want to hear,” says Hersh, who describes the new songs as “less emotionally tangled” lyrically. “They’re energetic and -- eek -- positive,” she says. “Even if maybe it won’t sound that way because I’m yelling.”

*

Fast forward

The Album Leaf, fronted by ambient music guru Jimmy LaValle of San Diego, performs as a full band tonight at Spaceland; included will be material LaValle wrote last fall in Iceland during his collaboration with Sigur Ros.