Listening to Anal Cunt on a regular basis is probably one of the most rare occurrences on the face of the earth. And, granted, there’s a reason for that. But as offensive – and purposefully so – as that group is, there’s a clutch of Swedes that have been kicking around for just about twenty five years who rival that better known pseudo-metal group.
Brainbombs – who were brought to my attention through Superdope – are old hat today. The band’s still is ridiculous as ever. And it’s difficult to imagine coming upon these guys in 1985. But the same scenario greeting Americans with weird taste who were granted entry to the Anal Cunt world probably occurred for more than a few folks in relation to Brainbombs.
Working through the ensembles thick and muddied back-catalog, a slew of singles sticks out – one with Anal Babes being a highlight. A weird thing happens along the way, though. If one tosses on Obey (1995) and then Urge to Kill (1999) there’s a notable dissipation of sound quality.
Now, the band never attained any sort of wide spread acclaim, briefly granting Brainbombs the ability to record albums with the most technologically advanced equipment (even if that did occur, it’d be easy to guess that the band would pass on the chance or simply wreck the studio). But even with that sonic drop-off, the persistence of vision – both lyrically and musically – is a connective tissue making all this mess sound the same.
Lurching “Anal Desire,” from Obey, is as awful, violent and spiteful as “Maybe” off of Urge to Kill. Either track is going to be troublesome to the straight world. But the pacing of either track when considered tied to its message is pretty funny. Violate whoever, but do it so that there’s enough time for the victim to think about it and reflect on what led them to that present moment.
These guys might ape some sort of end day’s G.G. Allin scenario, but the music itself isn’t really that offensive. Just slow, repetitive and loud. Everything written herein, though, can easily be found every Friday evening at the local sports bar. So, friendly weirdoes, who then is the misogynist and who deserves what?