Perfect Pussy's debut album offers up eight songs that should be the springboard to bigger things for the band. However, I'm not totally sure if that's a good thing or otherwise. I'm finding myself a bit confused by Perfect Pussy but both the band and the album is being hyped in some quarters as being something new and great, and whilst I don't doubt their intentions, the thing is, it doesn't sound as if it's actually new, or at least it doesn't sound new to me. I find myself comparing it to the likes of White Lung, Nu Sensae, Lord Snow and White Murder (yes, all female fronted bands which might seem a tad obvious but they're who come to mind), all of which manage to get my pulse racing with their music whereas I don't get that same sense from Perfect Pussy.
Despite it seeming like I don't like this record, I'd like to confirm that I do enjoy Say Yes To Love and the reason for that is how the songs are layered so well, with Meredith Graves' vocals never really taking centre stage as they're kept within the mix of everything going on around her. The guitars jangle and sear in equal measure providing an almost soothing soundtrack within which Graves has free range to yell, bellow, shriek, sing and speak. The rhythm section also holds its end up and keeps the songs twisting and turning with some nice changes of direction and pace.
The album closes with "VII" and this reminds me of the sort of thing Crass would have done in having a spoken vocal surrounded by a wall of noise, albeit it in this case, it's not quite that bludgeoning a musical experience that accompanies Graves. However, it is on this track that I come close to truly believing in Perfect Pussy.
For a band that on the face of it could/should have a visceral feel, I'm still left feeling that to a point this lacks a killer blow: all constituent parts are there but the synergy found in great records is not. However, I'm happy to allow myself to drift aimlessly in this album or at times to concentrate and discern every nuance of what is going on, so in that respect Say Yes To Love does a good job.