Singer/guitarist Gordon Gano, bassist Brian Ritchie and drummer Victor DeLorenzo formed Violent Femmes in 1981, developing their unique folk-punk sound in the coffee shops of Milwaukee and busking on street corners. The band’s self-titled 1983 debut was an unlikely college radio sensation thanks to songs such as “Blister in the Sun” and “Add It Up,” eventually selling more than a million copies. Across nine more albums, Gano and Ritchie proved to be restless and omnivorous musicians, incorporating free jazz, avant folk and gospel into their sound, while occasionally coming up with more irresistible anthems like “American Music.”
Earlier this year, the Femmes’ debut album turned 40, and the city
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