Duchess Says
Anthologie des 3 Perchoirs
(Alien 8 Recordings)
A live Duchess Says show is a shocking sight. Lead singer Ismael’s a wigged-out cross between Nina Hagen and Linda Blair, writhing and scaring the crap out of the uninitiated. This is an OK intro to the Montreal synth-punk band who promote their own Church of Budgerigars, but it’s still best to attend the live sermon. At points the disc’s a nightmarish circus, at others, it’s dance central. There’s a twisty remake of 6FS’s “Rabies (baby’s got the).” You can almost clap to “Black Flag,” but instrumental “Lip gloss babyla” sounds like rusty strings left out all winter. Totally bizarre and fun, but definitely not Sunday music.
Sue Carter Flinn
This article appears in Jun 12-18, 2008.