Firstly, Pamela Ribon is a goddess. Secondly, this little piece about the Violent Femmes is a prime example of why I worship her. I can identify and also just love the evocativeness of the writing.

Does everyone who ever got introduced to the Femmes have a story about hearing them from an older, hipper, more rebellious kid? Or is it just people roughly my age and Pamie’s? I first heard the Femmes from a girl named Meg. I was supposed to be her Geometry tutor but I can’t say we really got much learning done. I mostly remember riding around in her Beetle with loud, loud music blasting. And trying to pretend that I was cool and this was no big deal, I did that all the time and I totally already knew the Femmes and all the words to all their songs. Of course, I knew them not at all, but I knew that they were rebel music, angry music, and most importantly, cool music.

After I graduated from college (and was, I hope, much cooler than I'd been in high school), I saw the Violent Femmes live at HFStival in Washington, D.C.
Almost every cool band I’ve ever seen live was at one of those day-long festivals. They were so much better run than Lollapaloza, at least to my recollection. I saw Courtney Love (she dived into the mosh pit to attack a guy wearing a t-shirt that said something about Kurt), the Ramones (they went on right after the special surprise guest of the evening – Tony Bennett. How’s that for some audio whiplash?), James, the Rollins Band, Afghan Wigs, Bush, PJ Harvey. . . good times.

At some point, I’m not sure exactly when, my sister and I were in a car together for several hours and I played th Femmes for her. We listened for hours, at high volume. I think we were convoying with my parents, because I remember laughing with her about the fact that they were probably listening to Click and Clack in their car. I don’t think we fought that whole car ride, and I credit the Violent Femmes. Beara still loves the Femmes (and my sister is not a rock/punk/rebel kind of girl!).