I must admit that I went into Perfect Pussy’s Say Yes to Love very skeptically. I first found out about Perfect Pussy via Tumblr. Specifically, I heard about Perfect Pussy when pseudo-Tumblr celebrity Patrick Kindlon of the band Self Defense Family went on a shit-talking spree about Perfect Pussy a few months ago. Apart from the off-putting name (I know this is punk rock and everything… but come on), I got the impression that this was just the latest band caught up in the Internet hype machine—a band lauded as the saviors of punk rock by people who don’t listen to punk rock. But unlike Fucked Up or Ceremony, who toiled through sweaty basement shows and years of virtual obscurity, Perfect Pussy was immediately embraced by the Internet’s hippest music websites, and seemed to come out of nowhere. I really have no room to judge anyone based on their true punk merits (I was a government employee for a long ass time), but I definitely had my doubts about Perfect Pussy. And now I feel like an idiot.
I expected some by-the-numbers, early ‘80s hardcore throwback (a la OFF!, Cerebral Ballzy), but Say Yes to Love is 25 minutes of ass-kicking, unrelenting, dirty, noisy music that may not be punk, but it’s ugly and mean and amazing. The ever-present hiss of tape on every track makes the listener feel as if they’re experiencing an aural snuff tape—who knows what kind of weird shit was going on when Perfect Pussy were recording this album, but I imagine dried bloodstains on tile floor, but maybe I’ve just watched Saw too recently.
Opening track “Driver” sets the mood for much of Say Yes to Love. These are not highly complex songs, but Perfect Pussy’s energy is ferocious, and loud, and just plain weird, but in the best possible way. Meredith Graves’ vocals are muffled by a constant barrage of noise, with only a few comprehensible words escaping through a waterfall of feedback throughout the brief-but-blistering album. “Bells” has the same driving momentum until the middle of the track, when the band slows pace and launches into a passage almost reflective of the Dead Kennedys at their most circus before the track collapses onto itself in a filter of noise. “Work” is also excellent, with a similar tempo change near the end of the song propelled by Garrett Koloski brutalizing his drums. “Interference Fits” is the most mellow song of the album, nestled right in the middle and offering a nice respite from the intensity of it all and offering rare moments where Graves’ lyrics strike loud and clear.
Comparisons between Perfect Pussy and other female-fronted punk bands such as White Lung and Nu Sensae are inavoidable, but it is the incorporation of harsh noise into Perfect Pussy’s sound that sets them apart from their peers. The band is at its best when they are able to combine the energy of punk rock with noise elements (the guitar feedback almost sounds like a broken brass instrument sometimes), as they do on the first six tracks of the album. The final two songs on the album are purely noise-based, with very little structure. It isn’t exactly harsh, but comes across as a tamer version of what Boris were doing at the beginning of their career. It’s a good come-down from the blistering energy of the album, but it isn’t an entirely satisfying finale.
Say Yes to Love is a very short album at under 25 minutes, which is both a strength and a weakness. It is so loud and intense that anything more may have been grating, but at only eight tracks, it comes across as a bit of a tease. Luckily, Perfect Pussy are a highly interesting band with a lot of potential. The bands sound is unique, but it leaves them plenty of room to grow and incorporate disparate elements. Believe the hype.
Rating: 4.5/5