I Climb You As I Grow Older

In case anyone was wondering, the Throwing Muses album University is a flawless masterpiece, one of the great unappreciated, seemingly forgotten classics of the last 10, no let's make it 20 years. My CD copy is in storage (all my CDs are in storage, except the comedy records, for some weird reason), so I bought it online (hey, MSN Music!) and have listened to it about 15 times in the last week. For a long time I was partial to The Real Ramona, which is probably still my sentimental favorite. But University fucking SLAYS. And it sounds so much more organic and raw than the other TM albums. In 1995, when I interviewed Kristin Hersh for the Glass Onion (the only time I ever got to say "STOP THE PRESSES" at an actual printing plant because I found out the production guy had changed the spelling of Kristin to Kristen and I refused to let it stand; spelling counts, yo), I just assumed that the world would line up to vaunt and glorify her obvious, manifest genius. It never happened. As the massive guitar throbs into the intro of "Start," as the band ramps up to the delirium of "Shimmer," as the harmonic lilt of "Crabtown" lulls me into blissful unconsciousness, I remain baffled.

What I'm saying is: Go dust off your copy and revel in its thunderous grandeur. What? You don't have one? Shame on you. They're on Amazon used for a buck and a quarter. That is simply wrong.