Hatred and comedy have never seen to come together so frutifully. Kites' side of this split 12" is The Hidden Familyand its features stick out in my mind as some perverted hallucinationof a three-ring circus. The music isn't particularly carvinal-esque,but for some reason Kites doesn't sound vicious or biting enough toconvey a sense of dread that freezes me to the core. Track titles like"All the Jesus Shit" and "Screw Style" do little to change theappearance that this is a near-humorous attempt at frazzled samples andTV-static composition. This isn't a complaint, though. Kites' approachto noise is one that makes the second half of this split seem all thatmore disturbing. There's nothing particularly amazing about the Kitesside, but it doesn't amount to anything near amateur, either. It's justnot my cup of tea. Perhaps my exposure to a live Prurient performancewill bias what is to follow, but Prurient's White amounts to ahellaciously viscious vocal attack that comes away simultaneouslyaddictive and abusive. A pounding series of feedback serves as arhythmic base for Prurient to scream his unrelenting vocals over.Whether or not the poem included on the cover of the split 12" isactually what is performed by Prurient is questionable. The words beingspoken aren't exactly what's important, it's the delivery of thesehalf-words and hate-fuelled screams that makes Prurient's music sofrightful. As soon as "Spanish Moss" (the centerpiece of this side)finished, I immediately replaced the needle at the start of the recordand went over Prurient's music again trying to decide what it was thatfascinated me so much. Prurient live stuck in my mind because of hispresentation and how in control he was of the noise when all he had wasa couple amps, a couple mics, and distortion pedal or two. On record,Prurient is so utterly raw that his noise is hard to ignore. Drumsmashes, psychotic mumbling, uninhibited feedback and a feel for whatis and isn't bearable makes Prurient more entertaining than many otherswho feel noise is just a mix and mash of heavy and disroted sounds. Trylistening to this record with the sound turned down, the effect is justas chilling as when the volume is loud enough to make ears blister andhearing a difficult task. -Read More
