Peaches
Rub
I U SHE MUSIC
6/10
Just when you thought it was safe to roam the musical landscape, Merrill Nisker (a.k.a. Peaches) is back to once again threaten the very fabric of North American social stability. Indeed, the sheer sonic violence of the frequencies on Rub seems calculated for total disruption and psychological upset. Opening track “Close Up” sets the tone straight away with its genuinely maleficent bass drone thundering over a creepy trip-hop beat. Madame Nisker and guest vocalist Kim Gordon trade off peculiarly ominous vitriol—”‘Tasha Lyonne gonna break your hip bone.” My, my.
Other song titles like “Dick in the Air” and “Vaginoplasty” only serve to verify that Peaches’ mind is in the gutter, but her lyrical weaponry is focused squarely on fucked-up gender politics. And who but she could pull off a line like “Face down, dick up / That’s my command / Take it like a real woman / Not Ayn Rand” and infuse it with genuine gravitas? And just when it might seem to be all too much, she brightens things up (a little) with “Light in Places,” a feral dose of groovy electro-clash. Make no mistake, this is aural effrontery at its most relentless. Should that prove a problem for you, there’s always a handful of wispy singer-songwriters ready at a moment’s notice.
