This 2023 2xLP started showing up on my various social media feeds a couple of months ago, prompting me to look into it. I have to confess that I was unaware of Nervous Gender, which surprised me a bit when I learned more about them – they seem like the kind of band that should have come onto my radar at some point. But it just goes to show, with music there’s always another layer to peel back, to explore, to experience.
Founded in Los Angeles in 1978, Nervous Gender are described as one of the foundational electropunk groups. The word industrial gets thrown around a bit too, and while I was skeptical after listening to the A side, the B side pretty much broke my brain. Labels are a necessary evil when we try to describe an artist’s sound, but there are some that exist on the fringes who seem to escape any conventional categorical definitions. And Nervous Gender is on that fringe. What exactly are they? And does it matter? I don’t think it does.
The A side is fairly straight-forward, the songs punk in attitude and a bit more avant garde in performance, but not too radical. The B side, though… the B side… where to begin here? This is where that industrial influence is felt – not in a harsh metallic sense, but instead with strange combinations of sounds and effects, an sonic collage of disparate pieces that somehow just barely manage to fit together. “Exorcism” and “Bathroom Sluts” are mind-bending compositions that lead into the synapse-breaking and morbidly horrifying “Pie On a Ledge”. It’s as if the album is mocking the listener, saying “you bought this, so this is all on you”. And lest you think any of the above is a criticism, it’s not; I enjoyed every second of it. The C/D record is a bit sludgier and harder to pin down, but I’m not sure anyone was every able to pin down Nervous Gender. There’s an urgency underpinning most of these tracks, a frantic need to get the sounds and words out, the electricity of the instruments and microphones making everything crackle and buzz.
Put out this year by Dark Entries, Music From Hell includes two records. The first is the original 13-song album of the same name that came out in 1981. The second is a combination of songs from the Selected Pieces, 1979-1983 cassette and assorted live tracks. The packaging is a well-made gatefold with three different inserts – a lyrics booklet, a bi-fold poster, and a single-sided peach sheet with “DARK DAY” and an image of Phranc, Nervous Gender’s lead singer. Overall a quality release by a seminal and interesting band.