Monster Pussy
In Heat!
BLOAT RECORDS/CAT CASSETTES
After melting hearts and catching dreams for almost four years, Monster Pussy say goodbye to the Tucson house party circuit with the grandest of grand statements: the rock opera. With lead singer/punk lifer Mullarkey imminently departing this burg to go upstate, In Heat! is a concept album about falling in and out of love in Tucson, a notion so ridiculously over the top that it ends up as sublime.
Using a shambolic Velvet Underground circa White Light, White Heat minimal sonic backdrop, Monster Pussy waste no time jumping into the Southwestern-themed love jams, like the brilliantly titled "Trail of Kisses" and the completely awesome "Subterranean Lovesick Fools." While succeeding as blistering rock 'n' roll, the soul of these songs lies in the lyrics, which explicitly detail the subjects with references to local bands, individuals, and places like the Surly Wench Pub. In Heat! is an unabashedly, un-self-conscious, ambitious undertaking.
The moving ballad "Target: Moving Hearts," which I'd like to think is about falling in love at the local Target, is perhaps the album's pinnacle (it's hard to choose just one), with its contagious refrain and indication that Monster Pussy's experience of Tucson doesn't begin and end with trendy downtown cafes. Monster Pussy profoundly hit a nerve by refusing to play it cool, and they will be missed.
Monster Pussy perform their final show as headliners of The Last Meow, on Saturday, May 11, at The HangArt, 512 N. Echols Ave. About 15 bands will perform starting at 1 p.m. All ages are welcome, and alcohol is not. Admission is $5 before 5, $6 after.
