Perfect Pussy are a noisy punk band from Syracuse who have attracted quite a bit of buzz as of late. Their debut album, Say Yes to Love, is now streaming on Spotify. Check it out above.
The four-piece are fronted by Meredith Graves, whose deeply personal lyrics and public diatribes against sexism have made her a very visible figure despite her band releasing their first demo less than a year ago. When asked by Billboard about opening up on Say Yes to Love, Graves responded:
"There’s this stereotype… It’s where the word 'hysteria' comes from, this idea that women are demanding and overly emotional and always 'too much.' I don’t think there are enough messages going around that, 'No, you’re not actually too much. Your feelings are valid. You’re allowed to feel however you feel.' So if by fellating myself repeatedly on a record I can make someone else maybe feel comfortable saying 'Yeah, I’ve had these experiences, too,' or 'I’ve had my own experience and now I want to talk about it.' I think it’s really important to promote a culture where we feel OK talking about our feelings, because keeping things bottled up leads to all sorts of horrible things."
She certainly makes no attempts to conceal her rage on Say Yes to Love, and the album is stronger because of it. It bristles with anger and grime, the latter being aided by loads of distortion and lo-fi production, and while it's by no means hardcore punk, the album is more confrontational than many of those by more aggressive bands. Even its seemingly-optimistic title gets flipped on its head on "Interference Fits," which brashly asks, "Since when did we say yes to love?"
Say Yes to Love is short, clocking at under 25 minutes if you don't count the four live tracks that have been tacked on at the end, and even less if you subtract the almost silent three minute outro on "Advance Upon the Real." Personally, I think it's better that way, with Perfect Pussy's brutal assaults on all that is clean-sounding in the world better digested in small doses. Listen to this once every morning for a week, and you'll probably get a pissed-off, "go get 'em" attitude that will last you the rest of the day. Listen to it nonstop for an entire day, and your ears might react similarly to cold glass coming into contact with hot water the next time you hear an acoustic guitar.
You can buy Say Yes to Love from Captured Tracks, but unfortunately the limited vinyl edition containing Graves' menstrual blood has sold out.
