The Hussy have never been known for their subtlety.
Their latest album, Weed Seizure, from Tic Tac Totally Records isn’t one of those albums that are slowly going to grow on you and make it onto any overlooked lists ten years from now. Instead, The Hussy take every opportunity to immediately beat you over the head with a garage punk pummeling before you’ve even decided to continue listening…and they don’t let up until 28 minutes later.
The first track, "Undefined", is such an overwhelming, stacked layer of guitars, it’s clear just how far they’ve have come since their humble beginnings on a split single with Sleeping in the Aviary, and just how far they’re willing to go to create this one of a kind wall of garage rock. Every scuzzy, banged up note has been painstakingly captured in a way only The Hussy could have come up with. Bobby, on guitar, has expanded band duties, this time as recording and mixing engineer. He pulls it off with spectacular results, thanks in part to the experience he’s gained while running Kind Turkey Records. In addition to managing The Hussy’s own output, he’s been recording and mixing the labels releases himself.
Their entire career they’ve been focused on two essential rock cornerstones: guitar and drums, and they push them to their practical limits every track. The chords are big and the use of unconventional instrumentation is even bigger, with a glockenspiel or a recorder, if that’s what’s actually lurking under the layers of distortion, which is, after all, Bobby’s primary tool.
In "Bang Bang" you can hear the scrappiness of this duo. They’ve paid their dues for years in Madison, Wisconsin and beyond, keeping their sense of humor, instilling this blown out, ballsy rock with silly fun. Heather is full of piss and echo, pounding on the toms, while Bobby falls back, a little restrained until he gets loose on a ridiculous solo. It’s that kind of give and take that’s an essential part of their success; Heather mashing out a steady beat, with Bobby hitting the heavy grunge style distortions and solid metal melodies with a shit ton of mind-blowing guitar work.
Not that it’s entirely Bobby’s show. Heather takes over on tracks like "SFB" with easily as much punk attitude, alternating between a heavy snare, lead foot kick, and cymbal crashing chorus, snarling "Shit for Brains!" on a typical Hussy track that lasts a little more than a minute. Who else but the Hussy could craft a track about the Son of Sam in "Dog Said Yeah"? Heather and Bobby trade off verses from the killer’s point of view:
I didn’t want to splatter their brains / I didn’t have much choice in the matter / I had to do it / ‘Cause the dog said "yeah"
At this stage in their evolution, the combination of primal rhythm and melody in the hands of Bobby and Heather reaches an entirely new end game. "Stab Me" is the best example of their dynamic, from Heather’s airy, delicate vocal and Bobby’s growly, speaking delivery; it’s this contrast along with their familiarity that ultimately works so well between these two.
If it’s possible to have a seizure smoking excessive amounts of weed, The Hussy will help facilitate it through an overdose of massive chords, stomp rock beats, and their hydroponic bursts of garage rock.
MP3 Stream: "Undefined"
