Review: Perfect Pussy | Say Yes To Love

"We're Perfect Pussy, and we're terrified." So spake Meredith Graves, fronter of Perfect Pussy, just as the hotly tipped act lurched into "Big Stars," a standout track from its debut long-player Say Yes To Love last week at NPR's SXSW showcase. The statement was delivered, perhaps, with a knowing wink; fear was likely the furthest thing from her mind. Here was a band that six months ago couldn't beg their way onto a hometown bill, now opening up for the likes of Damon Albarn and St. Vincent. Just today it was announced that the band would perform on the final day of the Pitchfork Music Festival this July.

Here's the thing, though: with the release Tuesday of Say Yes To Love, the band has clearly grown into its success.

The debut from the seemingly fearless Syracuse noise-punk quintet operates largely within the same sonic framework as its furious, legend-making four-song demo tape I Have Lost All Desire For Feeling -- all crushing distortion and wide-eyed, mantra-like screams from frontwoman Ms. Graves -- but the new set just feels bigger. Sure, some of that je ne sais quoi may be reflected attention received lately from within the music blogosphere. But one gets the feeling with Perfect Pussy that its boiling Say Yes To Love was going to be a massive, bold statement whether 10 people or 10,000 or even 100,000 people heard it [the preview track "Interference Fits" has been streamed about 70,000 times at Soundcloud to date. -- Ed.]. The Syracuse hardcore scene from which the band emerged is now just a jumping-off point; on its new collection Perfect Pussy transcend straight-ahead punk and grasp a sound and a vision far more interesting.

Interviews with keyboard player/in-house producer and engineer Shaun Sutkus reveal that the band's signature, headphone crackling distortion, which cakes the band's instruments and vocals on Say Yes To Love, is the final ingredient added during a Perfect Pussy recording session. Only after first obtaining clean drum and guitar tracks do Mr. Sutkus and Graves streak thick, visceral noise all over the mix. In an era where the lines between mainstream pop and indie rock are increasingly blurred, there's something refreshing about a band purposely marring perfectly good pop songs in an effort to achieve an ideal sonic aesthetic.

So, the name. On the surface, choosing it seems as subversive as the group's searing, noise-slathered sound, perhaps an immature headline-grabbing move from a careerist group bent on leveraging the sexual politics of punk to sell records. Well, A., it's not, and B., this record probably won't sell that many copies (Captured Tracks has Mac Demarco and DIIV on the roster for that). In point of fact, the name-too-explicit-to-be-printed-in-uptight-publications is the product of the extreme self-consciousness Graves has grappled with throughout her life, she has said in interviews. Call the moniker, instead, an act of defiant self-definition, even social protest: Graves finding strength within perceived weakness concerning her body image.

Another common Perfect Pussy talking point is the band's decision to bury the vocals low in the mix. Graves has a well-conceived and entirely legitimate retort for critics of the sound: she's a loudmouth, always has been, always will be. And so the genesis of Perfect Pussy's scorched-earth sound has roots in Graves' desire to speak out, even if no one will -- or can, given all the noise -- listen. The band's audible meshing of music and lyrics spurs a practice largely faded from the post-Napster music-listening landscape: following along the lyric sheet while listening, as one did, for example, listening to New York Hardcore records in the '80s and '90s (incidentally, Perfect Pussy's bio namechecks mighty NYHC legends Cro-Mags). Perfect Pussy is at its most exciting when Graves shouts loud enough to be heard over the din, as with her titular query "Since when do we say yes to love?" between the sludgy guitar riffs in the aforementioned "Interference Fits." Or the TMI declarations that punctuate late album highlight "Dig": "I WANT TO FUCK MYSELF / I WANT TO EAT MYSELF."

Behind the fury and emotional turmoil of these tracks lies a band truly enamored with sound. The fivesome smartly zags instead of zigs with its choice of ending the EP. The ambient noise collage "VII" is the slow roll back to start on a roller coaster: an easy sway back down to Earth following an intense fifteen minute ride. Say Yes To Love is out now via venerable Brooklyn label Captured Tracks and can be ordered on LP, CD or cassette right here; download codes provide access to bonus live recordings, which we'll be eager to hear. The band is currently on tour and is slated to be in town April 24 at the Middle East with Canadian experimental collective Yamantanka/Sonic Titan. Full tour dates and links for the Perfect Pussy's debut EP can be found here. -- Dillon Riley

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