Violent Femmes frontman Gordon Gano will release his solo debut, Hitting the Ground, in late August or early September on Instinct Records.

The album's eleven new tracks feature nine guest vocalists, including PJ Harvey, Lou Reed, They Might Be Giants, Frank Black, John Cale, Mary Lou Lord and Linda Perry. The collection will be Gano's first new set of songs since the Femmes' Freak Magnet in 2000.

As for the Femmes, the band is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year. Their now-classic self-titled debut album will be reissued later this month, packed with a number of rare demos and a live bonus disc. "There were a couple songs I hadn't thought about in a long, long time because we never recorded them," Gano said of the live material earlier this year. "I laughed out loud. I was a little bit surprised at how much energy and spontaneity there is to the tracks."

A Femmes box set is also in the works for release later this year.

Hitting the Ground track listing:

"Hitting the Ground," with PJ Harvey
"Oh Wonder," with Mary Lou Lord
"Make It Happen"
"Don't Pretend," with John Cale
"Catch 'em in the Act," with Lou Reed
"So It Goes," with Linda Perry
"Run," with Frank Black
"Darlin' Allison," with They Might Be Giants
"Merry Christmas Brother," with Cynthia Gayneau
"It's Money," with Martha Wainwright
"Hitting the Ground"

ANDREW DANSBY
(June 12, 2002)