Later this month, Throwing Muses will issue Anthology, a career retrospective celebrating the 25th anniversary of the alt-rock band’s debut release on 4AD. Founded by stepsisters Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly with drummer David Narcizo, Throwing Muses was the first American band to be signed by the label. (Donelly departed in 1991, focusing first on The Breeders and then forming Belly.)

As anyone with even casual knowledge of Throwing Muses would expect, Anthology isn’t a typical best-of. Eschewing rules, like leaving off most of the singles and opting for a non-chronological order, the set’s 21 songs were handpicked by the band as their favorites, while a bonus disc offers 22 tracks of b-sides and rarities.

Thankfully, Throwing Muses still think highly enough of their most-familiar single, “Bright Yellow Gun” to include it on Anthology. The lead track from 1995’s University (featuring the debut of bassist Bernard Georges), I was introduced to the album via its engineer, Trina Shoemaker, who was producing a project in a recording studio I interned at in college. “Bright Yellow Gun,” which hooked me from the start, reached #20 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart that spring. Interestingly, University was actually recorded in 1993 but was held for release until after Hersh’s 1994 solo debut, Hips And Makers.

No matter its vintage, “Bright Yellow Gun” today remains a transfixing, grab-you-by-the-shoulders number. I think you need a little poison:

Throwing Muses’ Anthology is released in the UK on September 19, with Amazon listing a U.S. availability of September 27.

This recent Guardian interview with Kristin Hersh is worth a read. She talks of her struggles with depression, schizophrenia, and her hatred of music (seriously), all chronicled in her recent memoir, Rat Girl (released as Paradoxical Undressing in the UK).

Purchase Throwing Muses – “Bright Yellow Gun” via iTunes.