Nashville Pussy - Let Them Eat Pussy

By the time NP released this major label debut (on Mercury Records), their live show was a super tight, super-sexy, super-white-trashy, sideshow circus of fire breathin', lesbian kisses, booze drinkin', clothes-strippin', pile-drivin' rhythms and wild guitar antics. Fronted by ex-9 Pound Hammer Blaine on lead vocals and guitar, the band consisted of his wife, Ruyter, on stunnin' lead guitar (like a female, punk'n'roll Angus Young), fire-ball-slingin' giantess Corey Parks on bass and powerhouse Jeremy never lettin' up on the drums. They went from small club dates to headliners in no time and this record was even nominated for a Grammy (!!!) for "Fried Chicken and Coffee"! This is sleazee, greasy punk'n'roll with amazing production by Kurt Bloch (Young Fresh Fellows) and sounds as great now as it did then!

Layers of feedback open "Snake Eyes" which blurs into a wild ride of fast paced punk'n'metal'n'roll - short, simple but filled with crazed guitar work! If anything, they're even more frantic in "You're Goin' Down" and continue on for the sing-along "Go Motherfucker Go", where Blaine's whiskey voice is shouted raw and they even give us a fake ending. The riff-laden screechin' boast of "I'm the Man", no relation to any of the similarly named songs, gives us lyrical gems like "wake up with my balls on fire, sweat gasoline when I perspire" while Ruyter riffs away maniacally which is followed by more lyrical beauty in the start'n'stop dynamics of "All Fucked Up". There's an actual story line to one of their best, the blastin' punk'n'roll ode to dirt track derby, "Johnny Hotrod", with singalong lines like "no you stupid boy you just fucked up again!"

Flip over the vinyl and they speed up even more for "5 Minutes to Live" and they don't let up for "Somebody Shoot Me" and barely even take a breath before "Blowin' Smoke". Smokey Robinson's (by way of the Contours and most likely learned from the J. Geils Band) "First I Look At the Purse" is given the Pussy treatment - sped up with Thunders-ish guitar leads added - and leads into the feedback'n'female groanin' intro to "Eat My Dust" - again, so damn fast it's hard to keep up with - before the grand finale of "Fried Chicken and Coffee" that is actually just moderately fast, with a cool groove, tons of guitars and Blaine's poetic one-liners like "it's time for all of you to line up, get on your knees and kiss my butt" and "wash the sperm outta your ears and put your goddamn heads right in the speakers and listen to the shit I'm about to put down"! What follows is a count down into their longest song and a frenetic freakout for their dual lead guitars (Blaine's simple solo first, with Ruyter tearin' it up at the end), which was once their show stopper where Ruyter would literally tear the strings of of her guitar while climbing up on whatever was available and making a ferocious racket.

The songs are all simple, short, and yes, a bit repetitive, but, combined with the crazed stage show, they filled out the sleeze-punk image that garnered them a huge group of converts.

With the success of the initial release, there was a second pressing that included a bonus CD/EP of cover songs called Eat More Pussy, so, of course fans had to buy that, as well (along with the vinyl, naturally!) This was a compilation of cuts from previous 7" releases where they let their influences run the gamut. Opening with AC/DC's "Kicked in the Teeth", they strip it of the original band's groove, but add their own mania to it, naturally, and practically create a whole new song! They logically follow this with Australia's similarly styled heavy band, Rose Tattoo's "Nice Boys Don't Play Rock'n'Roll", which is much closer to the original. There's a high speed take on the traditional "Milk Cow Blues", a frantic "Headin' For the Texas Border" (Flamin' Groovies, natch), an insane "Sock It To Me Baby" (Mitch Ryder) and a bit more appropriately paced (cuz it was punk rock to start with) "(I'm) Misunderstood" (the Saints - more Aussies!).

Like I said, not a lot of variation, but it's a good, powerful concept, like the Ramones had, so they could run with it and they did vary things a little bit as time went on. In any case, this release is a power house and still a blast to listen to (and see live!).