Harry Pussy - What Was Music? (Siltbreeze, 1996)

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While Siltbreeze being the home of many lo-fi top-dogs (Times New Viking, Sic Alps, Eat Skull), the label has also come to releasing many older essentials such as The Dead C., Guided By Voices and my personal favorite, Harry Pussy. This 1996 anthology is one that no noise rock buff should live without. The title itself is striking: What Was Music? as if it were declaring Harry Pussy's work as the true definition of music... or is it telling me that the band was under the impression that they didn't know what music was during these recordings?

What Was Music? compiles work from 1992-95, and captures the band in their prime. Though I relegated Harry Pussy to the noise rock label, their music is difficult to categorize. Spastic dual-guitar noodling, hellish screams and pounding drums filtered through fidelity equivalent to that of an overused voice-grade cassette tape, Harry Pussy's music is about as gritty as it gets. "Fuckology"* is a confounding mess of destructive strumming, unintelligible shouts and stuttering, blues-inspired meedleys that are so aggressively played that the following track "Dream Diver" slows down towards the end-- I'm assuming just because playing this is a tiring task. During these 32 tracks, the band never seems to lose interest in what they're doing, nor do they become complacent in their chaotic nature and spout filler; every track has a unique characteristic that may not be noticed during a first listen.

Some may classify their music as "unbearable" or even go as creative to say, and I quote, "cats in a blender" but there are moments on these recordings that show a hint of beauty. For example, the untitled first and 11th tracks show fantastic hypermelodicism and technicality of a math rock caliber. From the band's more tender songs ("Nazi U.S.A.") to their most primal (Track 31), Harry Pussy have an ear for versatility. Their music is undoubtedly complex, though it may not be executed in the most comprehensible manner.

Siltbreeze has done the great deed of establishing Harry Pussy's excellence, diversity, and their influence on bands like AIDS Wolf, Arab On Radar, and K.K. Rampage. Load Records also released an HP compilation, entitled You'll Never Play This Town Again, which includes recordings of their live shows and tracks from the sought-after tour LP... but I think if I were to properly introduce someone to the band, What Was Music? would do them more justice. It salvages Harry Pussy's best tracks while at the same time feels cohesive enough to be withstood as a whole.

[Harry Pussy Myspace]
[Buy What Was Music? from Siltbreeze]

*Note: The way you see the tracklist may vary: the tracks I mentioned are how I initially read them listed on the CD. However now, I'm convinced that there's a bonus untitled track hidden in tracks 4-14 because I noticed that on the track "The White Improviser" they shout "Showroom dummies" in the chorus.