Craft Recordings is pleased to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Violent Femmes’ Why Do Birds Sing? with a reissue of the bestselling album from the folk-punk pioneers. The vinyl reissue of the original 13-track album, features freshly remastered favourites like “American Music” and the band’s inspired cover of Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”.

Born out of the Milwaukee underground, Violent Femmes—who are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year—formed in the early ‘80s by Gordon Gano (vocals, guitar), Brian Ritchie (bass), and Victor DeLorenzo (percussion). Blending jittery folk-rock and punk sensibilities with a heavy dose of teenage angst, the band gained a fervent fanbase, thanks to their 1983 self-titled debut. Several of the album’s enduring tracks, including “Blister in the Sun,” “Kiss Off,” “Gone Daddy Gone,” and “Please Do Not Go” became college radio hits and made the Violent Femmes one of the biggest alt-rock groups of the decade.

As the band recorded Why Do Birds Sing?, they found themselves returning to their classic Violent Femmes-era sound, particularly with songs like “Out The Window” and “Look Like That.” They also revisited several compositions from their earliest days, including “Girl Trouble,” “Life is a Scream,” and “Flamingo Baby.” Additionally, upon Beinhorn’s urging, the band chose to record an unlikely cover: Culture Club’s 1982 hit, “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me.” “We took it as a challenge,” laughs Gano, who reworked the majority of the lyrics, making the song sound like a Violent Femmes original. Ritchie adds, “It was an experiment that turned out really well…in fact, we bumped into Boy George once in a hotel bar and he told us, ‘That is the best cover of any of our songs anyone’s ever done.’”

Why Do Birds Sing? also included one of the group’s most commercially successful singles, “American Music,” which hit No. 2 on Billboard’s Modern Rock chart and has since become an essential song at shows. Based on a vintage-inspired shuffle, the track stands out in the Violent Femmes’ catalogue. “‘American Music’ communicates a lot,” notes Ritchie. “But the arrangement has a lot of very interesting touches, and we thought it was a good production of a great song that encapsulated a lot of music history in one track, so that’s why it led off the album.”

Released in the spring of 1991, Why Do Birds Sing? pushed the Violent Femmes into their highest level of mainstream success—nearly a decade into their career. Over the next few years, the band became a must-see act at festivals like Lollapalooza and Woodstock ’94, while their videos could be seen regularly on MTV. As the group was embraced by a new generation of fans, Violent Femmes entered the Billboard 200 for the first time since its release and was certified platinum by the RIAA.