When people find out I write a blog they often ask where I find new, or at least new-to-me music. The answer is sort of a generically disappointing “everywhere”. I hear about it from friends; connections in the liner notes; flipping through the new arrivals at record stores; and yes, even social media. Pixel Grip found their way into my psyche via, of all places, the seeming wasteland that is Facebook. They were announced for an upcoming summer festival in Seattle and the post included the image from the cover of their most recent album and… I just had to find out what they were all about. I am definitely a sucker for an interesting or artistic or provocative album cover, and this was all three.
Hailing from Chicago, Pixel Grip are built to take over the club. Producers Jonathon Freund and Tyler Ommen bring the sexy beats and the sly synths that singer Rita Lukeau treats like a dominatrix, owning them, bending them to her will and purpose, wringing from them every little bit of power and emotion. Percepticide: The Death Of Reality is their third full-length and has been on near-constant rotation at my place for the last few weeks. I finally scored a vinyl copy and consider myself fortunate – it’s self-released and has seemingly been very hard to track down. And let me tell you – it sounds great. I get a bit nervous about self-released, heavy bass vinyl because there’s a lot that can go wrong. But not this time. Oh baby, not this time.
Opening with soulful-yet-distant “Crows Feast” sets the mood, dark, sensual, dreamy, before giving way to the club beat of “Bet You Do,” and yeah I do, and now the feet are tapping of their own accord, the rhythm infusing my entire body, slowly filling me up until it breaks my brain and I have to move, to dance. Pixel Grip weave in and out of a sea of influences – pop, EDM, industrial… there’s a lot to take in. I find them at their best when the tempo picks up. Tracks like “Moment With God” find their way deep into your consciousness and give Rita the chance to really shine, twisting about, here pop, there soulful, and over in that corner, well, I mentioned the dominatrix part. She’ll hurt you. Real good. But then there’s the Joan Jett-ish delivery on “Jealousy Is Lethal”… Rita is a vocal chameleon, a mythical shape-shifter who can sing in whatever style she chooses and still be better than just about anyone you can think of to compare her to.
There are three different vinyl versions of Percepticide: The Death Of Reality as of the time I’m writing this – black, iridescent blue, and blue. I have the blue version and the sound quality is excellent. A lot of folks on forums are out there wringing their hands about how hard it has been to get a copy. As of today, there are no copies for sale on Discogs, nor has there been a recorded sale, which is saying something. I guess I lucked out from a timing standpoint since I grabbed mine from the band’s website (though this version now shows SOLD OUT), along with copies of their first two records (because I’m like that when I discover something new-to-me that is this exciting). I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s another pressing in the near future, but for now you can give the music a listen on all the streaming services, or check them out on Bandcamp HERE.