The Hussy on Windian Records

Old friends to 7inches, Bobby and Heather of The Hussy are back with a single on Windian of course that has young Keith Richards shedding psychedelic tears for the thundery scuzzy sounds that, at this point, The Hussy have been honing in on for the last NINE YEARS! Countless pedals and guitars have been set on fire, drum heads broken, van engines ruined and floors slept on but that tour with Nobunny must have made it all worth while. These guys just keep getting better and better finally bringing one member of the Rolling Stones to tears.

A-Side's "EZ/PZ" I swore might have been from one of their full lengths but I don't recognize this tight Heather fronted track showcasing major range not just in bad ass energy but singing chops as well. Bobby in supporting position is left to completely destroy this distortion and riffs reminding me of some rough Home Blitz type of garage blues cutting right down the middle. They can't help but nurture those sweet starts and stops with instincts that they've continued to blindly follow. It's all heart on display, make it all louder and faster, you can't stop to think things out just try to hang on. Still amazed these two are playing together after all these years and the sound continues to evolve as they both keep this sweaty two minute punk pop marriage together.
B-Side's "Hey Jude Pts. 2 & 3" has a real crisp four chord riff with Bobby and Heather yelling right over each other in that perfect unison, the kind they can pull off at every show, delivering "OH MY GOD" a hundred different ways. This is one of those opening tracks that I know I must have caught live, the kind of thing that makes eveyone head to the stage. Some juicy tape warble bleeds right into a super bubblegummy Hunx/Shannon sounding low tempo number of Heather's while Bobby 'whooooo ooooo ooo's' in the background and jams out just a slight bit of surf over his epic sustained distortion waves. They get this sound live but on these singles they have a chance to perfectly separate the cymbal crashes or layers of multiple distortions and keep experimenting their garage punk sound to perfection.

That split with Digital Leather was a completely amazing surprise as well which is still available on Southpaw, as well as their first full length - back in print.

Get this from Windian, who just announced their latest single series for 2015. This is on pink and white or blaxk vinyl.

Fire Retarded on Gloryhole Records

Heather and Bobby from The Hussy were passing through Brooklyn last week with a little band called Nobunny. It was one of the sold out shows they were playing supporting that bad ass up and down the east coast and even shared the stage with Mr. No at Baby's All Right, I witnessed that freaking debauchery with my own forever scarred eyes. It's awesome to see a band that's been so great from the very first single and I get equally excited when so many other people start to see it too. Why am I even talking about Bobby and the Hussy in this post? Because in addition to running his label, Kind Turkey, Bobby has been recording and mixing his own records and this single from Fire Retarded (which I instinctually spell 'reatarded') he ended up playing guitar on and joined the freaking band for a tour and maybe for good(!) last month. I'm sure the rest of these guys are great too but Bobby's involvement had me reaching to throw this on the turntable the minute I opened it up.

On "High Horse" a fast back and forth snare and kick beat opens that drop of a thousand guitars which all pile in with layers of distortion and serious fuzz, bobby has added mystery muscle behind the grit and crunch. It's helped by Tyler Fassnacht on vocals who has a real aggressive growl. The drums smack away trying to rise above the thick muffle of this distortion that's got things tuned down to get the maximum lower end, or it's been eq'd with the treble straight exiled out of here. Sort of hardcore sounding if the garage rock slammed right into a semi truck full of marshall stacks. Real theatrical big sound to these guys, he's yelling his face off because he's got to get ahead of these guitars. A Milk Music amount of texture, or Mayyors, they come at this like it's some kind of personal attack, this means a lot and you better get out of the way.

Every time I think about it / I just want to break something.

Cymbal crashes bounce across channels, that low end butt hum of distortion is so blown out into the upper reaches it seems like the last thing mixed after everything was pumped through a PA and re-mic'd - you end up with those low frequencies that just push everything else out. Those poor speaker cones are working so hard to vibrate as wide as possible those high parts can just forget it.

B-Side's "Lost the Touch" right away rolls these four chord riffs bluesily running up and down the scale. A real serious dead eye chord with no sense of a party anywhere in sight. There's something real dark and low about this, they're maybe taking this seriously and trying to have fun in the process but it's all coming from a lot of shitty situations. Massive crazy solo. Those chords are back to just run faster and faster until the end. So much of a good thing like the rawness of the misfits, the vocals at first seem like an afterthought, spoken in a stuttered rhythm attempting to follow the melody but really about the drudgery of everyday bullshit. The chorus comes as that release from just checking out and just rolling over, this solo is another kick in the crotch. It's almost metal with how fast and technical this gets.  Next up, "Damaged Man" can't just seem to start unless it's at full speed. There's no zero to sixty, they start already in flight. Windmill chords do allow for some rest here, a little bit of zepplin echo and I'm hearing a lot of that southern skids classic rock stuff. Old muscle cars and moonshine. It sounds like they're primarily a live band that Bobby is doing his best to capture. They play the studio like that headlining spot - for themselves - forget the tape is even rolling. How many god damn guitars are at work here that's what I want to know. Huge finish blasting everything out, and they still come back for more. It completely won't quit messing with a lot of that old stuff that just worked and always will. A sort of pumped up Natural Child, they have those classic sounds down, the vocal is distanced and it's got those blues bones that then get energized with metal. Like Ty's latest Fuzz project, as piled up and balls out and keeps going because they just can't help themselves. That's coming from that love of performance and they ain't going to change for a 7".

The cover is a bloody shirt because a fight starts out immediately when they go on. It's late and someone gets too drunk and tries to get on stage, but it's not for amateurs. Fire retarded makes that clear in name and punches to the face.

On muddy orange red vinyl, let's say burnt retarded? On Gloryhole Records. Mary / Kill? Band name or the label? It's a tough one.

The Hussy on Certified PR Records

Honestly I can't remember going to a better live show than the few I've attended from The Hussy. Bobby and Heather, from Madison, WI are also the nicest damn people I've had the chance to talk to a hundred years ago and have watched them go from split singles to massive colored vinyl full lengths on Southpaw and Tic Tac Totally Records. I'll admit it, I'm completely biased and going to love the hell out of this one before it even hits the turntable.

A-Side's "Turn it Three" has the duo taking it down to a see saw teetering rhythm. Who knows how they keep coming up with these caveman stomp beats that can stay this fresh. There's no formula to their impressive output; as much as they are consistently driving towards this garage punchy brief track, I couldn't see them pulling a fast one and getting the London philharmonic for their next record. The punky trash sound has been there from the beginning and the story of this band is as much about plowing through every possible permutation of guitar and drums as it is about how these two remain friends for this amount of time through the incessant touring and the crazy highs and lows that come with the intensity of being that close with these huge stakes. Not only have they managed to come up with these catchy power punk tunes for years but they show no signs of letting up anytime soon. I predict every label you know and love will someday put out a Hussy release. Bobby and Heather make friends wherever they go and don't seem to ever have a drought of material. This one is a sing song number with Bobby's patented snarl that seems to end in a question. They really compliment each other in sass and like any good duo, attempting to overwhelm the audience (like the one in question on the back of this sleeve) before the smell blood. These two will blow you jaded bastards away.

The B-Side "Firelung" reminds me of Adam Widener's punk pop stuff just dripping with reverb, they can stretch those jangly electric sounds into heights of hiss. This one has Heather being the snotty protagonist like all of the ladies of Midnight Snaxxx at once, in leather jackets and switchblades, a nightmare coven from the Outsiders. Plenty of backup harmonies that remind me of why these two have to sing together, they can go full Hunx at points caramelizing sweet layers of sugar just before barfing in your mouth. So quick and you won't find either of these on anything else.

Pick it up on dark purpley vinyl from Certified PR Records, recorded and mixed by Bobby himself. Just yesterday in fact I got a single from Fire Reatarded, also out of Madsion and lo and behold it was also recorded and mixed by Bobby Hussy - a real triple threat.

The Hussy at Parkside Lounge, NYC this Friday

Photo: Bambi Guthrie

Just a quick post about The Hussy coming to Parkside Lounge in NYC this Friday with the Enthusiasts! Didn't even realize they were a part of his lineup, I talked about their single a while back and just realized as I put this together, they're on the bill. Looking forward to checking out everybody though and will remember to bring a fire extinguisher.
The Hussy recently repressed Weed Seizure on yellow vinyl for this tour and have cassettes of their sold out Cement Tomb Mind Control debut.

THE HUSSY

LIVIDS

THE ENTHUSIASTS

THE LIVING KILLS

DEAR HEARTS

8P

$8

The Hussy on Eradicator Records

Today's single is from Wisconsin big shots, The Hussy. I ended up getting this one from Bobby himself (on green!) out of the backseat of his car in the pouring rain after their ridiculously awesome set at The Archeron. He told me the craziest story about this blurred out double exposed sleeve photo, which involved not being able to sleep, nudity and found photos scattered all over the floor. Now that I'm looking at it it could also be medical textbook documentation of a 'weed seizure', the title of their full length I've been steadily spinning since that fateful almost Great White show...a little tip...beer and lighter fluid just spreads the flames...ALL OVER THE FLOOR!

A-Side's "Stab Me" is off their latest on Tic Tac Totally and it deserves to have it's own special highlight A-Side here, completely blows the doors off as usual... The Hussy on this whole new record finds them tighter than anything previously and makes all the gritty, raw guitar sound slick as hell. It also looks like Bobby has been recording and mixing everything of The Hussy's lately, including some bands on his own Kind Turkey Records.
He's distilled Weed Seizure into a really concise pop punk right down to every bell chime? There's some weird things happening just under the surface of these tracks but when you've battle tested every chord by the time you get to recording, you've probably got an idea of what this should sound like better than anyone else.
So I imagine Heather and Bobby (after a weed seizure of course) saying "Hey I wonder if we could get away with a flute sound mirroring this guitar track on the right channel?" Nestled among the handclaps and doubled vocal, greasy guitar, kicked out boom drums, it sounds like... yes you can.
That's why when you get to Turkatron, you're hearing for The Hussy what is the equivalent of a 4track cassette demo for crying out loud. It's got all the attention to detail of the bigger tracks, but the physical whallop is more restrained, and it's what makes b-sides throughout history so god damn important. Here's an early incarnation of this massive sound, but how they get from there to "Undefined" is anyone's guess. Heather gets familiar with the reverb back off in the distance under a little thinner drum track and takes the reins on this brief number.

B-Side's "Hard to Erase" is back into their greaser onslaught, what makes this feel kind of B-movie Cramps is the sheer enthusiasm they approach these tracks on their records. Bobby's belting out these vocals, and I'm not just thinking of the live show, they're dedicated to this chorus sound, and catching as much... straining as much sound out of that duo archetype, every last wave, every note.. crash and scuzz is compacted down into power pop punk. Ending with a bang.
"Molly Molly" is a Midwest Beat cover with that crazy echo on the vocal, everything is incredibly dense with possibly even some synth on this one. They always avoid that repetitive trap, by not letting it continue long enough to ever hear it really come back again but Bobby isn't resting on just any three chords, he always feels like he's packing the limits of melodies into a single measure. Solo the sam hill out of this section over here.

A crazy solid entry point from Eradicator Records if you still need proof positive to get on that larger format for a seizure inducing dose of...The Hussy. 4 colors still available!

The Midwest Beat 4 song EP on Eradicator Records

Here's another single up today from Eradicator Records, this one from The Midwest Beat, seems to be working on a super-pop, packed with catchy harmonies and hooks reminiscent of '60s garage and psych, but keeping things seriously crafted, leaning towards the brief, hook packed 4 song EP. That might have something to do with a midwest snowbound work ethic, the antithesis of smoking doobies at the beach...or an appreciation for those Kinks style garage origins that has never really gone by the wayside.

"Back to Mono", the first track on the A-Side goes right into a jangly, bouncy guitar rhythm. I learned that Logan, who's not even the regular lead vocalist is front and center on this, (thanks to the kind turkey blog) he's got an out of control enthusiasm which shows up across the entire band. There's a great bending guitar in this faux surf style for the breakdown that serves to bring this stuff back even harder when the chorus comes back. These guys have this insane energy, the punching in of harmonies, pushing this one forwards...and fast.
"Blind Flower Girl", starts up with no break from the first track, slowed down and reminding me, with this raspy scratchy vocal, of a Replacements type track, with a lot more harmonies. By the end another surfside guitar is furiously picking and the jangle is back. They're laying a vocal harmony on thick and heavy, almost in a Creedence type hyper-country. There's something far away from garage about this, it's a pretty straightforward rock, with a heck of a lot of energy they can't help but let loose constantly.

The B-Side starts out with "Sexi Ladi" a Hussy cover (!) who by the way have a bunch of new stuff coming out this year and they must be pretty psyched to have a cover on someone else's record already. The Midwest Beat's version sounds like it cleans up the original, taking it way back to those '50s surf jams down the beach from the garage. They have a heavy whammy bar bend, lots more handclaps and in place of Bobby's mischief sounding vocal, they lay on more of a layered approach with insane ammounts of vocals, everyone throwing in their sweet harmony as usual jam packing this in. "Smile Like a villain then takes a turn towards the psych acoustic, like a Strawberry Alarm Clock burner, full of their handcrafted vocals, distorted through all kinds of different patina's. Here there sounding a lot like the Fresh & Onlys, across this whole EP even, the same kind of pop experimentation. There's a lot of ways to create a psych-pop song and The Midwest Beat sound like they've got to try them all.

Get this one from Eradicator Records:

ER22 Midwest Beat "Back To Mono" 7"


Four song EP 7” by Wisconsin’s best “angry bubblegum” band The Midwest Beat. Obviously the whole EP pays homage to the 60’s vibes fans of the Beat have come to expect, but it’s definitely a unique Midwest Beat release. From the striking cover art, to the beautiful candy blue vinyl, the package is excellent. The Midwest Beat are ever expanding, both in style and delivery, both musically and lyrically. I’m glad the Midwest Beat once again showed us their extended depth. Great single by a great band. Buy it!-Bobby Hussy

The only thing cuter than a curious cat, is a curious cat in a sweater.

The record was cut!

Just sifting through the documentation now, but the record was cut, no major disasters, the weather was awesome, great turnout from friends and just people enjoying the day.... the bands were incredible, Animal Hospital's experimental dense layers of rel to reel and built up samples, Ashcan Orchestra's impressive anything goes percussion setup, bowed xylophones and welded metal gears, Tree Of Tenere's (members of Soccer Mom) instrumental rock and even getting Bobby from the Hussy to acoustic garage rock over the phone, that was a truly surreal moment in the lathe room.

Thanks to everyone that came out, and to Masterdisk, especially Alex DeTurk for working the lathe cutter. It's what I imagine Nasa missions were like. You're in a windowless room listening to audio, talking to people who may as well be a million miles away, placing mic's and adjusting levels, there's only one time to get this. You have one shot.

Really incredible job. Alex and James took the time out of a perfect Saturday to sit in there with us and try something hopefully totally new. We should have the audio rip of the disk us to preview at some point, and tons more pictures.

LIve! From 14th Street! with Art in Odd Places and Masterdisk

Hey there, just wanted to let everyone know about this project happening tomorrow on 14th and 10th ave, NYC. At 2PM in the park between the west side highway and 10th ave, right in the center of the grassy hill there we will be cutting a record, live.

A while back I went to Masterdisk in midtown to check out their mastering facilites and learn a little bit about what goes into cutting the lathe master that gets plated and stamps out the records that we buy in a store. Checking out the lathe cutting room with Alex and watching him cut a record in front of us was pretty amazing. After seeing a tweet from them around the same time about wishing they could throw the lathe cutter into a truck and cut a live record...well that got us thinking...couldn't we live stream a performance to the lathe cutting room a few blocks away instead?

At the same time Art in Odd Places was having their annual public art project across 14th Street and having worked with that great festival before we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to attempt this under the umbrella of AiOP with the help of Masterdisk and 4 great bands.

Since this project is about communication and what happens in the translation between technologies we then wanted to tie in some of those recording landmarks with the bands pieces.

Matt asked Kevin from Animal Hospital to work with the earliest recorded audio from Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville's phonautograph. A demented lo-fi scratchy tune from possibly Édouard-Léon himself.

I talked to Pat from Ashcan Orchestra to listen to the first radio broadcast off the coast of MA in 1906 to see what they'll come up with.

Finally we gave our friends in Soccer Mom (10" out on sweaters and pearls!) an image of the voyager disk for inspiration.

Matt suggested we could go one step further and call in a band to play over the phone and that's when we thought of The Hussy in WI.

The three bands will play live for each side of the record and Matt and our trusty technicians/photographers Jim Manning and Rob Coshow will capture it all, while I'm at Masterdisk with engineer Alex DeTurk making sure it's coming through and watching the record being cut. When it's finished I'll jump in a cab and head down to the park to listen to the record with the bands and anyone who decides to show up.

I'll be posting pieces of the final audio and some video of the performance in the coming weeks. I'm excited, the weather looks like it's going to hold out, and it should be a pretty crazy spectacle on a Saturday afternoon. Go check out these bands, they're all super great guys for working with us, and I hope it's as exciting for them.

The Hussy, The Hussy, The Hussys on Fire

Got a chance to finally catch The Hussy last night at Fontana's and if I thought the recorded full length captured what must be the live energy of this band I was completely wrong. The studio recording captures the nuances and all the tiny detail of the songwriting and guitar sound, but when they play these tracks live onstage, they are new in a completely different way. Bobby and Heather, facing each other are pouring everything into playing these songs, it's all opened up to crazy effortless improvisation. I knew it was going to sound different from the record, but I really didn't expect the tsunami that blew in, you can't look away. It's over too quick, it felt like it just got started, there's no breaks, right into the next catchy wall. Bobby half staggered, half launched himself around different corners of the stage...out onto the monitor stands, about to topple over into the crowd and then swinging the guitar at the end of his arms back over to the mic when he wasn't singing. A totally natural out of control performance.

The only time Bobby stood still for a second and I managed to get a not blurry pic on my iphone was when he set his jaguar on fire.



I saw him reach for the lighter fluid and started pressing the button. The audience talking later outside were afraid they were going to also go up in flames. I don't blame them. It was the only conclusion to the friction that was building up onstage, something had to give...and not one bit of it felt premeditated.

They play again tonight at Don Pedros. Get some macaroni and cheese balls. Heat them up over the sweet flames of raw garage rock...and get their full length...it's going fast.

The Hussy - Cement Tomb Mind Control

Bobby from The Hussy just delivered on his promise of a bad ass full length and a tour that is making it's way through NYC this weekend...with a live appearance on WFMU.

Have been giving this full length, Cement Tomb Mind Control a listen for the past couple of days and those early singles just hinted at this blown out echo to death sound that starts in from the first track, "I'm me". It got me thinking about this title, which could be the title of a Japanese Ed Wood horror movie, the Hussy have a fun, do whatever it takes spirit that equals completely rocking out this high energy, punk-garage. The vocals are distorted, the drums are explosive...this had to be mixed and mastered right on that line of fuzz, and often times right over it. But that's what makes it feel live...they obviously are at home on stage at full volume, leaving trails of motion in any still photo...and they captured this on the record. It's not easy to get that sense of space and more importantly the performance.
Heather and Bobby's back and forth vocal on any given track is what takes this beyond a traditional garage sound, it's the lyric sound of a duo along with the instrument interaction. They're both accomplished and half pushing each other to make this next one a little shorter, a little faster, and I'm going to get to the chorus first...no I am. Hearing Heather in this context, like on "Odd Duck", is this combinaiton of the the trained party howl of Shannon & the Clams with the raw scuzz of Bass Drum of Death. It's a dirty sounding surf, frankensteined together from the garage '50s and greaser rock blues. The back and forth of just 'Yea's" is priceless...they can get away with it sounding so good.

Everything hovers around 2 minutes and comes off as one endless bombardment. If you stomp your feet at high speed for 20 minutes you will have just gotten off the Cement Tomb Mind Control ride.

I have to further love a band that's open to just fucking around with sound and breaking up the A-Side with "Peace, bro", just an answering machine message over a crash jam completly fucked with a massive echo, then rewinding and looping the end of the message, "peace... bro -bro -bro"

Go give this a listen below...or better yet, catch the Hussy IN TOWN THIS WEEKEND! 3 shows ...you have no excuse.


Hussy is streaming the LP here, but of course then you'll want the vinyl from Slow Fizz Records,
or Bobby or Heather at one of these shows. Bring the extra 10 bucks.
Peace bros.

Interview with Bobby at Kind Turkey Records

I talked to Bobby from Kind Turkey Records a few weeks back about starting up his label this past year and a new single they're working on from Madison, WI's own Dead Luke. Sean Reed himself is working on the design and screening the sleeves as you read this probably. Dead Luke is back with a live band, dark as ever, and ready to tour.
In addition to the label, Bobby and friends have a music blog called Kind Turkey, with tons of reviews; 7" and full length.

We talked about balancing the label with his own band, The Hussy who is coming to NYC in June in support of their full length(!) on Slow Fizz Records, any day now.
We also get into the spontaneous community that surrounds punk and garage, including singles, and the importance of small labels....you know....how 7"'s rule, and here's why...like you didn't know, but listen already, Bobby is awesome and this will make you really want to check out his label and releases. These things exist because of you.
Kind Turkey thanks you.
He's a nice guy.

Download it here.

AA on Softspot records - The Hussy interview pt2 podcast

AA is another romantic story of a band who went into the studio in the early 80's and recorded a perfect little post punk EP in an edition of something like 500. It got into enough hands of people who never forgot them...even making it to the US, and into the “International Discography Of The New Wave"....anyway the whole huge story is on AA's myspace.

It's one of those bands like Beyond the Implode...they were just making what they wanted for no one...it just happened to age really well. I have to say AA is exactly what you wanted the early 80's to sound like. Kind of dark, minimal, not relying on the synth too much, still rock and guitar based. The guitar tones are wavering... distorted...like this era Cure. I'm amazed to think the only things they had were chains of pedals to come up with this...but to use it like Gang of Four, or the Wire is of course as we all know now...is timeless. This easily slides in alongside that era.
It's everything that makes the new wave of this era sound so interesting to me. I'm pretty ignorant of it, so when a reissue like this comes around and the few tracks on the myspace are this interesting. There have to be other overlooked documents like this... then I'm in.
I don't think punk, for me anyway, really has the same relevance...this new wave still sounds contemporary. I think the good and bad thing about punk rock, is how tied it was to it's own politics. You had to live punk, it was a part of your daily life...there was nothing casual about it. You knew who else liked it immediately...and I'm even talking about the various aftershocks of punk...let's face it I don't even know what it was like to actually be there, but I think that msic is more about the scene and attitude then the songs...maybe that's obvious to everyone, but it's what always holds it back for me.

'Suicide Fever' is a great great song, no one has sounded this depressed, he's got a talking low almost Peter Murphy, Ian Curtis voice, that of course makes every one of these songs.

This is available from the usual mailorder distro's, Fusetron, Aquarius, etc and from Softspots myspace.

Softspot music is proud to present its flagship release, a limited reissue of the Essential Entertainment EP by Belgian band AA. Originally released in 1981 by Sexy Robot Records and limited to 900 copies, Essential Entertainment is an unrecognized gem of the early post-punk era. A unique and compelling sense of restless dread and frustration emanates from their stuttering grooves, spiky guitar arpeggios, and disturbed mutter-to-shout vocals. The music is clearly inspired by its peers: Joy Division, the Fall, and label mates the Cultural Decay. Essential Entertainment was AA's first and only release. Softspot will be releasing a limited pressing of 500 copies.


Podcast this week, Episode 57 (14min, 13mb) is part two of the interview with Hussy. I talked with Bobby about the split 7" with Sleeping in the Aviary. How you can't seem to get arrested in Madison, what's it's like recording with Heather, how they write a song, Justin from In The Red that mastered their single, and how people tell them they need a bassplayer.

The Hussy - Sleeping in the Aviary split on Science of Sound records + podcast interview

Bobby also sent me their first single, 'One Time' from the Science of Sound... the Fistful one and this came out at nearly the same time, but technically this was conceived of earlier so it'll go down in the books as the first.
Science of Sound records based in Madison, The Hussy and Sleeping the Aviary's hometown, released this black and white glossy sleeve split between the two bands. Bobby told me how he'd beena huge fan of Sleeping in the Aviary and it was pretty amazing to not only appear on this split but actually sit in on guitar for them once.

The first track on the Hussy side, 'One Time', is a more abrasive Hussy than the previously reviewed single...dirtier and raw. It practically sounds recorded live in a huge room sound, Heather and Bobby have tons more attitude here supporting each others verses and the whole thing is in danger of flying apart the entire time...completely off the rails. I think the vocals back and forth supports this great garage punk pop sound...making it even bigger, even more fun...singing along with themselves...good naturedly yelling at each other.
The solo towards the end is just ridiculous, clean gated overdrive...where in between notes there's just a hint of feedback, low crunchy feedback.
At the end there's all kinds of radio static, flipping around channels with lonely piano chords.... nice segue to 'I Got Soul' where the dirty guitar is still on 11, full of their sludgy distortion. The huge sound is even more cavernous, the drums heavy hitting with tons of low end. Lots of reverb...even on Bobby's vocals, when he's singing 'Yea I've got soul...yea I do.'
They're referencing that electric blues history...well, at least I think they definitely have that influence poking through with pieces like the backwards blues scale on 'Snakes'. Heather takes main vocal duties while Bobby frantically keeps up this up the guitar line which breaks up in stuttered off beats when Heather bashes the snare and kick at the same time.
No....We don't / we don't / even care.

Yes you do Hussy.

I have to say on this effort... that does it, I'm hooked...this dirtier sound is right on the edge of being completely in the red, it's more blown out and completely fits the garage punk sound even better.

Bobby graciously agreed to provide the track 'One Time' from this single to download. I'm also playing a bunch of stuff behind the podcast interview so you get a sense of their stuff.


The Sleeping in the Aviary side:

'Automatic'. Right away I'm getting like an At the Drive In energy, it blows up right out of the gate with up front distorted vocals. They combine that manic energy with little weezer-like distortion harmonics. The vocals 'oooooo' in harmony that match the high distorted guitar, which keeps building layers of higher and higher notes that almost become synth. There's a lot of great changes, it's impossible to keep up with the vocal pace and the constant guitar bursting into new chords and time changes. Extremely tight and catchy...there's no chorus, just an ever changing melodic assault.

'Radio Waves', the second one, begins with distorted bassline and vocals, written by Phil, who plays and sings on this one. I haven't heard someone go all out in this minimal direction since the Pixies...it's really got that energy when it blasts into the chorus. The same high hat tempo...catchy and taking chances...it all ends in unintelligible screaming with the entire thing collapsing, drum sticks and coughing like less than two minutes later.

This split is available from the Science of Sound for $5...easy on the wallet...pick one up...great pummeling tracks from both bands that will increase your heart rate.

For the podcast this week, Episode 56 (14mb-15min), Bobby and I ended up talking on the phone about Hussy's local tour, he and Heathers earlier projects, both of their singles out now, how it was working with the labels... and how Jeff Novak ended up in a picture holding a copy of their 7".

The Hussy on Fistful of Records

Bobby contacted me about his band The Hussy. Turns out they have a couple of singles out and would I want to hear them? A duo from Madison, WI? Of course I wanted to hear it.

Bobby ended up sending both of their releases, this one is from Fistful of Records A 'strictly underground vinyl label'...underground vinyl? Why am I only hearing about his now you ask? Well, turns out they are based in Holland...so it's not something I would have ever stumbled on if it weren't for The Hussy, they also released a Jeff Novak 7" in 2004! Way ahead of the curve. Hussy's other single, a split with other single with Sleeping with the Aviary, I'm planning on getting to later this week.

This Winter Daze EP is a screened three tone fluorescent pink, gold and black hand stamped screened sleeve, with tiny mice running all over the place on it. Bobby's drinking a beer and Heather is holding a lollipop and a hairbrush. You know.... now that I describe that... it really makes perfect sense. Drinking and lollipops. A punch in the face and a box of wine. Two things that even if you don't want them to...they will end up going together. They're trying to punch your ears in the face with 6 tracks of dense power pop.

I love duos, I think there is immediately something special about two people together collaborating with two instruments and two vocals...especially when it's a guy and a girl then there's another entity entirely. When it works in any genre it can be so genius...Matt and Kim, Mates of State...I don't know...It just allows for something really unique to happen.
The Hussy are creating this huge pop punk sound, harmonizing off each other. They trade off vocals, swapping versus, Heather sings backup woooo's, while Bobby is creating the chorus. They fill every second of every song making as loud of a harmonious power chord punch as humanly possible.

The A-Side standout is definitely the 'Drinking Song' which can be summed up in 6 words, 'Let's go out and drink tonight.' Clearly they are a live crowd pleaser, this whole sound is distilled from what must be a lot of experience playing live. Don't give anyone a second to get their bearings, don't give anyone a second to question if two people can blow the doors off with a verse chorus verse. Everything across both sides is crisp and punchy, there's not a hiss or over modulation to be found. The Hussy wants to be clear...here's the song, we're not hiding behind anything and when this over, we're going to do it again.

On the B-Side track Head Set, I love this singing back and forth almost half mocking each other yelling 'Head Set!'. On 'Winter Daze' they have this great almost Pixies like harmony here ...Bobby is mostly doing his talking vocals but Heather's inspiring a harmony, it sounds like she's got a trained voice, leading the melody. This one isn't as frantic as the other steamroller tracks, and it's a great title cut.

Then on 'Turkey' they get a little off the pop punk train here and almost go... dare I say grunge? The chords have a lot of distortion and length to them. there's a lot more layers and even some kind of electronics. I don't know for me it's something from that late 90's Mudhoney...with a little Dino Jr. thrown in. At the end, when the track fades out it sounds like Bobby and Heather are reading reviews of bands? Was this going on the whole track? Are these reviews of Hussy?

I have to say these songs flow together really well, it's a concise sample of Hussy's power. I'm going over the tracks individually, but that's like dissecting every piece of sushi, it's a perfect bite...don't think about it too much, and before you know it, it's gone, but it was damn good while it lasted.

From fistful of records who pressed it but look locally where it's available from distros Floridas Dying (they should be getting more in soon) and puke n vomit (catchy). Or you can hit them up directly on their myspace you guys can work something out.