Thunder of punk returns

Making rock isn’t always about craving radio hits or chasing the zeitgeist. For Kristin Hersh it seems to be about release, when playing alone, with the Throwing Muses or with her newest band, 50 Foot Wave, which continued its January weekly residency at the Fold at the Silverlake Lounge on Tuesday.

Just months after a solo acoustic performance at Largo, Hersh is diving back into the hardest edge of her music, leading a hard-rock trio that taps into the finest, oldest traditions of classic punk.

Joined by drummer Rob Ahlers and Throwing Muses bassist Bernard Georges, Hersh found slippery melodies beneath the raw chord changes, drawing elegance amid the noise. 50 Foot Wave is a tight punk trio in the classic sense, a blend of feeling and volume, harsh and immediate, too raging to fall into minimalist patterns.

“Nobody does anything on a Tuesday -- except us,” Hersh said at one point. “I think we need outfits!”

Then the band, a roar of churning, frayed riffs and Hersh’s ragged wail of primal screams, dove back into its thundering songs of angst and release, for a crowd of true believers that seemed to understand.

50 Foot Wave plays again Tuesday and Jan. 27, the Fold at the Silverlake Lounge, 2906 Sunset Blvd., L.A., 8 p.m. $10. (323) 666-2407.