So You're Really Going To The Black Pussy Show?

By Casey Moffitt in Arts & Entertainment on May 8, 2015 6:00PM

photo via the band's Facebook page

Guess who's heading to Reggie's Music Joint for a special Mothers Day performance?

Yes, that band with the crude and hostile name from Portland, Oregon making headlines for all the wrong reasons is coming to town, and we're not exactly camping out to get our tickets.

It was about six weeks ago the backlash started revving up against these guys and they've been spending a lot time making attempts to justify their name with a variety of shallow, dubious stories. For example, that it was the working title to The Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar." Our response is, "...and that makes it OK?"

Obviously the goal is to "freak out the squares, bro," and it would be great to hear someone in the band be honest about it.

So what we are wondering is—who are the people supporting this band and why? Their stop in Chicago is one of a 22-date tour, so somebody must be showing up to see them. We've tried to come up with some reasons but can't come up with a compelling one.

Perhaps there are those who feel the use of the name has been vindicated through the band's spin, which basically boils down to not backing down to a few offended people to compromise their art. They've dug in and nothing is going to change it.

The band states in its bio that it "does not condone or endorse any sexism, racism, ageism, violence, or any other douchebaggery that has been spoiling the party since the party started." That's wonderful. It really is. Except just a few graphs down, we see frontman Dustin Hill chose the name because it "encapsulates exactly what the band is: a sex-charged, '70s-influenced, hide-your-daughters-because-they're-coming-to-town rock 'n' roll band..."

We really got the wrong inference there, didn't we? Our bad.

Hill seems to have the impression that the name simply offends others, but really it goes beyond offensive (More on that later). But because Hill has this delusion, he keeps throwing it in our faces.

He has been quoted in interviews saying words don't offend him. This is incredibly asinine on a few levels, the first being that just because you don't get offended doesn't mean nobody should. Secondly, Hill, as lyricist, certainly knows what's offensive. Anyone using language to express themselves understands that words have meaning and power and writers choose their specific words to convey specific ideas. Lastly, by saying he's offending people, Hill is minimizing the issue.

Classy merch via the band's Facebook page.

What's especially precious is the Robertson Davies quote the band includes on its bio, "Few people can see genius in someone who has offended them."

Genius? Let's slow that roll, chief.

Maybe the band is claiming their music is genius, so perhaps we should examine it. It could be a very good reason people support this band.

We've given their latest studio effort, Magic Mustache (yep), a couple of spins to see what they've got to offer. Based strictly on its musical merits, it isn't an awful album but there's nothing special about it either. A big problem is that the songs don't transcend the influences from which the are derived. As we were listening we found ourselves saying, "Oh, here's their Queens of the Stone Age song. Oh, here's their Fu Manchu song. Oh, here's their Hawkwind song." There just isn't a whole lot of originality there—there's a lack of genius, you might say.

The album runs the usual formula for heavy blues touched with hints of psychedelia and quite frankly there are a lot of bands doing the same thing as well or much better than these guys. If you're into that sort of thing, there are plenty of better options out there for you.

However, if you feel like you really have to go to the show Sunday night or any of their tour dates, or if you are even on the fence about going, please do us a favor. Go find some of the essays, articles and think-pieces from people who are vehemently against the band's name and as you read them try to have some empathy. They aren't written by a handful of squeaky wheels looking for a little grease. Their concerns are genuine.

They're not just offended. They feel threatened, debased and dehumanized. You don't think the idea of five scrawny dudes naming their band after disembodied female genitalia is dehumanizing? Think again. And as for Hill's attempts to brush it all off as a collection of whiners who are easily offended, it's astonishingly arrogant and aggressively tone deaf.

Still, if you're going to the show, or you've accepted the invitation to the party hosted by the band with a racially charged and misogynistic name, we'd love to know why. Drop us a line and let us know. Because it's not really the kind of party that interests us and we can't imagine whose interest it would grab.