I‰’m currently a 21-year-old boy. At one point in my life, I was a frustrated kid in a suburban high school and Violent Femmes was my Bible. There was something about the way that Brian Ritchie‰’s bass lines bounced around Gordon Gano‰’s simplistic acoustic guitar chords that still sound very refreshing. The bass supplies the vast majority of the melody throughout the album, with Gano‰’s guitar providing filling rhythmic chords. This reversal of traditional roles is what gives the group their distinct sound and sets them apart from other alternative acoustic acts. Victor DeLorenzo approaches percussive work with efficient minimalism in the style of The Velvet Underground and The Jesus and Mary Chain. The group also sounds a lot like The Velvet Underground in their more frantic moments, as the instruments sound like they‰’re about to collapse as they sing their jagged melodies.

While the Violent Femmes were certainly innovators of the folk/acoustic punk/rock sound, the reason they‰’ll forever be cemented in rock history and a groundbreaking discovery for thousands of new music fans each year is their immaculate portrayal of the agonies of being a teenager. On the surface, the album‰’s lyrics sound like the ranting of a sexually-frustrated kid, but another world is hidden, waiting to be discovered under the surface. There‰’s an element of meta, honest self-doubt that slinks behind Gano as he tries his best to figure out the opposite sex. Above all, the music is honest. There are tales of teenage boredom with masturbation, drug use as a means of escapism and self-loathing. All of these emotions are channeled perfectly with yelps and groans.

While Gano will throw out lines like “Why can‰’t I get just one fuck? I guess it has something to do with luck,‰” there is a genuine search for acceptance, understanding and love at the bottom of it all. This is what it feels like to be a kid trying to make sense of the world. There isn‰’t a better way to leave the album than with its beautifully melancholy final verse: “Good feeling, won‰’t you stay with me just a little longer? It always seems like you‰’re leaving when I know the other one just a little too well. Oh, dear lady, won‰’t you stay with me just a little longer? You know it always seems like you‰’re leaving when I need you here just a little longer.‰Û