Recording: Sourpussy

Artist: Sourpussy

Song: A Song for Leah Jean^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (WET TECH), August 27, 2016.

Sourpussy - A Song for Leah Jean

WET TECH was an night-long product demonstration from the XHE corporation in the Tranzac's main hall, showing off some of the newest advances in sweat-harvesting technology. Between the executive massages, aerobics demonstrations and free Intelli-Gel® samples there was also some musical entertainment. Stay tuned for further secretions developments from these exciting new frontiers.

I believe this was the first T.O appearance for this Hamilton-based group, but I'd already had a couple people recommend them to me. As much a guerrilla feminist art performance as a "band", their set was filled with anarchic play. There was a kinship to, say, The Raincoats or New Fries — but untethered from any fealty to song structure. Instead, pieces would unfold like a comedy sketch (or a Negativland free-form radio broadcast) with phrases being tossed back and forth, sung, shouted or chanted. There were instruments in play (including an accordion that was the subject of an onstage tug of war) and a siren-noise coming and going in the background. There was a method here, but nothing they did felt like it had become rote or ritualized.

^* The band has suggested this as an appropriate title.