steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

review
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
info opinion

Pussyfinger

"Chew and Swallow" CD

Dielectric Records

Genre: experimental, electronic

May 2006

Pussyfinger certainly don't pussyfoot around. One look at the gaping mouth on the cover of Chew and Swallow should amply shock and scare the shit out of you. This is unapologetic experimental electronic music, a fifteen-fingered assault on your stupid musical prejudices and your big fat face. In the sonic carnage lies spasmodic, abrasive noise swapped with ambient soundscapes swapped with occasional moments of rhythm (parts of "Kurenai," "Mala Gente"). At one point you'll be stewing in pure awe at the beautiful drone of "Trane (Half Track Edit)", at another you'll be getting your ears drilled out by the blistering, all-over-the-map noise of "Buzzards of May." The churchlike choral voices of "Black Chorale," meanwhile, are interspersed and dismantled by abrasive noise and grindcore-esque vocals. Such is Pussyfinger's style; they serve you something tuneful, then they dish you something absolutely obliterating to erase any memory of accessibility from your head. The result is a varied, evolving experimental record that doesn't get old - pretty surprising for a genre often tied to tedium. Oh yeah, and don't be a pussy - play this shit loud.

myspace

87%

Fun Fact: "Leviathalidomide," the album's eighth track, is the left-handed enantiomer of thalidomide responsible for the infamous birth defects it produced when used as a pain-killer in pregnant women. N.B. You might need a working knowledge of high school chemistry to understand what I just said.

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 11 tracks, distributed by the label, released 2004]