A new punk band has exploded on the music scene, and they’re making a buzz for themselves, if only by name alone.
Perfect Pussy, the five-piece group from Syracuse, New York has made a splash at concerts and festivals, most recently at the acclaimed South By Southwest Festival in Texas.
The group is known for their 15-minute sets, because lead singer Meredith Graves screams so violently on stage that she becomes physically ill. Stage antics aside, this band is good. Lately, there have been numerous “punk” bands that have been making waves on the music scene, but none of them truly have the raw, unadulterated passion that Perfect Pussy has.
Graves reminds me of a rougher Kathleen Hanna of the 90s band Bikini Kill. Graves has the Riot Grrrl quality, which is the 90s feminist musical movement.
Many bands try to capture this aesthetic, but few actually achieve it.
Their debut album, “Say Yes To Love,” only came out March 18, but this band seems to be making an impact everywhere they go.
Rolling Stone magazine listed it as one of their “27 Must-Hear Albums” and the music website, Pitchfork, which is notoriously tough on new music, gave the an 8.6 out of 10 on their scale, and also listed the album as “Best New Music.”
I like this album. Sure, the lyrics are unintelligible, but the passion and quality of music is apparent.
According to Pitchfork, “Graves has said that her bandmates…usually record a totally clean track first, and then she and the keyboardist…come in and ‘make noise on purpose.’”
The album is only 23 minutes long, which makes it a great album to listen to over and over again. After a few listens, I actually started to make out the lyrics.
You get a sense of urgency and angst in these songs, but it’s not the annoying kind. It’s the kind that you understand and feel yourself.
You understand what this woman is going through in her sense of anger and frustration in her lyrics. One of my favorite lines I managed to make out was at the end of the song, “Dig”: “If I’m anything less than perfection/Well shit, nobody told me!”
If you want to be on the cutting edge, cool side of music, this band is worth a listen. Just be careful Googling them.
