If you were listening closely enough, you may have heard a modest lament following Throwing Muses' break-up early last year: Lead singer Kristin Hersh helped create a handful of shining pop moments throughout the band's tenure, particularly on its second-to-last album University. But it's evident throughout Strange Angels that Hersh has been paralyzed by her insistence to release a post-band-break-up album, one that asserts an exaggerated resilience and a reaffirmation of her solo talent. But she didn't spend enough time making it worth hearing. About halfway through Strange Angels, all the songs begin to sound the same, primarily because Hersh keeps repeating the same basic chords and trite observations. Songs like "Cold Water Coming" and "Some Catch Flies" may be poetic and profound on Hersh's own emotional terrain, but they'll seem ineffectual to just about anyone else. Strange Angels does have a few redeeming moments, including a brief instance on "Home" during which Hersh puts a little PJ Harvey behind her voice. And there is an occasional melody or pop offering that might work if it were obscured, if not hidden, by sonic layerings from a backing band. Standing unadorned, however, Hersh's songs feel not endearingly simple but sub-amateur. And any potential pop hook on Strange Angels is invariably undermined by streams of lyrics like, "Love is a needle, goes all the way down / so shoot me a roll of your best paradise." No thanks.