Perfect Pussy @ The Church, with +HIRS+, Green Dreams and Yamantaka // Sonic Titan.
Text and images by Rick Kauffman.
The term “face melting” is tossed around so often these days that at times it seems to have lost all meaning. In the case of the Perfect Pussy show at the First Unitarian Church, however, no other description seems to befit the performance the noise-rockers put on to a quaint, yet aggressive crowd Friday night.
Yet, when it was all said and done, the crowd stood in awkward disbelief as if something went wrong, but why?
After tough chicks in the openers +HIRS+, a spazzy, techy, grind two-piece of singer and guitarist backed by drum machine, they were followed by Green Dreams, who loosened up the listeners with some aggressive punk. Yamantaka // Sonic Titan took it to another level with their blend of Indian tribal and Chinese/Japanese culture-themed metal, complete with face paint, decorative fans and beats of the war drum.
Their cross-pollination of themes stems from the leading ladies Ruby Kato Attwood and Alaska B, who take spiritual inspiration from variously cultures and incorporate into a mix of their own Asian-Canadian cultures with J-rock, progressive rock and Buddhist philosophies, among many others.
Staged to an arrangement of specialty lighting, their performances are as much a treat to the eye as their music, which rises in crescendo to the point of aural asphyxia, is a treat to the ear. Bringing the crowd into an uptempo, drum-heavy trance, with senses subjugated by the sonic assault, they stand as Titans, indeed.
YM//ST’s domineering performance, in which they never for a second broke character, opened for the final pummeling from Perfect Pussy. Greeting on stage by the wide, lipsticked smile of singer Meredith Graves – who seems more pussycat at first than the tiger she’d later become – blew kisses and hugged friends before taking the stage. Backed by Theremin master Shaun Suktus, guitarist Ray McAndrew, drummer Garrett Koloski, and bassist Greg Ambler, they set up rather innocuously before leaping into frenzy.
With the bands right down on the floor at the Church, the alphabet carpet and sound monitors shifted down to ground level, it was as intimate as it gets. The band opened with ‘Bells,’ the second track off their first full-length album Say Yes to Love and instantly the crowd erupted.
It should be noted that Love was put out in limited release containing trace samples of Graves’ blood. Yeah, she’s badass. Also impressive, guitarist Ambler was three weeks off having his broken jaw wired shut from a stage dive at the Mercury Lounge in New York City, strummed the bass with with gritted teeth.
“I had to do something crazy,” Syracuse native Ambler said in reference to the Borough of Manhattan.”Because fuck that place.”
To listen to Perfect Pussy on album versus their seeing live show are two different beasts entirely. Live, they are frantic and overwhelming, in particular the Theremin occupies the high pitches while the drums and bass fill the lows and Graves and guitarist McAndrew’s noise fills the rest of the gaps. On album, they give straight punk vibes; in live concert they are feverishly loud.
Just a few weeks before, Perfect Pussy was opening for Kelis, St. Vincent and Damon Albarn at the NPR MusicShowcase at Stubb’s during SXSW to a crowd of a thousand or more, totally baffled by their on-stage madness, and now here they were in Philly playing a show in the basement of the Church to a crowd of around 100.
“We loved that show,” Graves said. “We’ll play anything and that show in particular was such an eclectic mix of bands.”
Ripping through six tracks from their 2013 album and finishing with ‘4’ from I Have Lost All Desire for Feeling, their first EP, the show was short and sweet. From the abuse the fans were inflicting on each other, always in an apologetic way of course, but damn it was fast and frantic.
In the final explosion of energy, McAndrew and Ambler dropped their guitars and walked off stage while Graves remained and quietly cleaned a few crushed cans from the ground while the crowd stood in flank. Muffled by the screeching that remained, Graves gave her quiet thanks while the people looked to each other for answers.
“Oh, I’m pretty used to nobody being able to hear me,” Graves said after the show with a laugh. “We’re three stops into a seven-week tour and every show has been awesome.”
The show had simply ended as quickly as it started, short but blisteringly. Just a tease until the next time they come around.
JUMP: The Philly Music Project 
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