The Good: Interesting sound
The Bad: VERY repetitive, Short, Obscured lyrics
The Basics: Despite sounding different from most other music, Puscifer's V Is For Vagina follows the same problems as much of Tool's work where the lyrics are obscured by the production elements.
A few months ago, I made Maynard James Keenan my Artist Of The Month, to focus on and study in order to learn what all the hype around Tool and A Perfect Circle was all about. Keenan had another group, Puscifer and I encountered their debut c.d. when raiding my wife's music collection for albums to review. Rather problematically, I have come across a number of artists whose works are new to me and also under-represented. The first of these newer artists is Puscifer and the album V Is For Vagina. I've listened to this album ten times now and I think the only words I've understood are "Jesus" (on "Sour Grapes" and "REV 22:20") and "Indigo Children" (on the song that bears its name).
The thing is, from my very first listen, I was underwhelmed and I kept thinking of how the album sounded a lot like the Tool album, 10,000 Days (click here for that review!) that my wife has kicking around. The irony for those no more in the know than I was when I started listening is that Puscifer is essentially the solo sideproject of Tool's lead singer/writer, Maynard James Keenan. Produced almost identically to the lone Tool album I've heard, Keenan might have a statement to make, but he obscures it by presenting the instrumental accompaniment to his lyrics well over his vocals. That said, V Is For Vagina is a good-sounding album that is ridiculously short, far less offensive than the title might suggest, and suffers more over replay than it does on its initial listens. That said, after ten spinnings of this disc, I am glad to be reviewing it, if for no other reason than to be able to put the disc away for some time.
With only ten tracks, clocking out at 48:30, V Is For Vagina is very much the work of Maynard James Keenan . . . or some Christian Rock/Gothic sound version of him. Of course, the more chaste Christian rock listening audience might deny this - largely having to do with including Jesus in highly sexual lines on "REV 22:20" - but some of the lines are undeniably songs of faith, most notably on "Sour Grapes." It is, however, largely a moot point; the lyrics can barely be understood whatwith the overbearing synths and moody bass sound. On V Is For Vagina, Keenan wrote only two songs, but he co-wrote the other eight.
Keenan and his band play all of the instruments on V Is For Vagina as well. Keenan himself plays acoustic guitar, drums, clavinet and other percussion. He is also credited as the album's lead vocalist. Puscifer is also credited with a co-producer credit on the album, so it is very hard to suggest that this album is not the intended musical vision of Puscifer and Maynard James Keenan.
V Is For Vagina is an album that sounds like no other . . . except Tool albums. The album begins with a fairly poppy song in that it is heavy in guitars, drums and the beat is strangely more dancable than most of the album. "Queen B." is electric and it infuses chanting (as if from monks) into the otherwise traditional pop song. Similarly, "DoZo" sounds like a pretty straightforward keyboard-driven track until a choir singing "Jesus" is paired with the sounds of a woman being sexually pleasured. The album is very bass-driven and songs like "Vagina Mine" are mindnumbing chants which sound dark and dense.
V Is For Vagina is in no way a cheery-sounding album (though "Momma Sed" includes more traditional guitars, with an almost bluegrass lick to them!) and the sound is murky and gothic, when it is not being poppy. The end of "Sour Grapes" actually sounds remarkably traditional for a Christian pop song, too. As for the vocals, here it is very hard to evaluate V Is For Vagina. Keenan might have a great voice, but it is almost entirely obscured by the musical layers of the various songs. Most of the songs have samples, pounding bass, drums at the forefront and other musical instruments. All of these elements tend to be pushed to the forefront and the vocals are pushed behind.
As well, the vocals are often altered by production elements. For example, on "Drunk With Power," Keenan's vocals have a mechanized quality to them. This is in addition to him singing lower and slower than on virtually every other song, so it is unclear what he is hoping to do with the sound of the album where he makes his own lyrics virtually unintelligible.
As for the lines, they tend to be a mix of Christian themes and highly sexual imagery and it is unclear whether or not Keenan is trying to be ironic or make a social commentary with the lines. Puscifer has a few songs where they actually sing about relationships and "The Undertaker" actually has some wonderful sentiments in its lines. Keenan and Lohner actually characterize a difficult break up wonderfully when they wrote "You were way out of line, / Went and turned it all around on me again / How can I not smell your lie / Through the smoke and arrogance. / But now I know / So you will not get away with it again / I'm distant in those hollow eyes . . . Thank You for making me / Feel like I'm guilty / Making it easy to murder your sweet memory" ("The Undertaker"). Of course, on V Is For Vagina those lines are almost entirely unintelligible, so reading them is the closest one is likely to get to getting the emotions of loss and angst.
Ironically, the songs that have the vocals most prominent and clear in them are the two arguably Christian rock songs at the album's end. I think there is irony here because Christian rock and V Is For Vagina do not exactly go together as far as the cultures and politics go. Still, it is pretty much undeniable that "Sour Grapes" is a Christian Rock song with its lines "'Go now, son, / Tell them all. / The ignorant, the blind paw by dogma, / Blinded by faith, the doubters, the nay sayers. / [Je-ho-vah! Yah-weh!] / Tell them all, child, / They can not see / The kingdom of God, / They can not see paradise / Unfold before them . . . They can not drink / From the chalice / Which holds the blood of Christ, / The water of life, / Until they get right with Jesus" ("Sour Grapes"). And as far as Christian Rock goes, V Is For Vagina actually sounds different and intriguing, drawing the listener in with murky sounds and pounding rhythms.
But for those looking for a Christian Rock album, V Is For Vagina is not necessarily for you. Keenan and his team mix spiritual love with sexual love in their lyrics and they intend for the power of one to work with the imagery of the other. So, for example, in "REV 22:20," they sing "Don't be aroused by my confession, / Unless you don't give a good goddamn about redemption / I know Christ is coming / But so am I / You would too if the sexy devil caught your eye / She'll suck you dry / But still you'll cry to get back in her bosom . . ." This is very much an adult album.
Unfortunately, it is not truly a great or even memorable album. The songs blend together because while they sound unlike most other songs, they frequently sound like one another. As well, the inability to understand most of the lines undermines the intensity of the songs, making it easy to pass by.
The best song is "The Undertaker," the low point is the unmemorable "Trekka."
For other former Artist Of The Month artists, please check out my reviews of:
Tina! - Tina Turner
Actually with Further Listening - Pet Shop Boys
@#%&*! Smilers - Aimee Mann
4/10
For other music reviews, please check out index page by clicking here!
© 2010, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
No comments:
Post a Comment