Various Artists HOT HANDS: A TRIBUTE TO THROWING MUSES & KRISTIN HERSH (Kuma-Chan)

Hot Hands pays homage to Throwing Muses and the band’s primary songstress, Kristin Hersh, without mimicking or maiming the original material. San Francisco’s Dirty Power, a band led by former Pansy Division frontman Patrick Goodwin, tear through a blistering version of "Hate My Way"; label owner Phil Locke, who organized the project, contributes his take on the Muses’ B-side "Uncle June & Aunt Kiyoti" (a tune penned by Hersh’s father), preserving the melody while layering it with static over a drum-machine beat. Seattle’s XiuXiu provide a jarring reading of "Juno" that mutates one of Hersh’s acoustic tunes into a desperate and sonically distorted portrait of madness. You get softer fare, too: Mary Larson & Billy Cote (two-thirds of what was Madder Rose), give founding Muse Tanya Donelly’s "Honeychain" the delicate treatment it deserves, and there’s a subtle beauty to Taikonaut’s reading of "Night Driving." New Jersey’s Flying Winnebago improve upon "A Feeling" by providing it a stronger backbone. But the disc’s shining moment belongs to Hypofixx, who rip the pop heart right out of the Muses’ radio hit "Bright Yellow Gun," leaving a gnashing industrial workout in its place.