Music Review//NO BRA – CANDY
Music is always
provocative and just how provocative it truly is, is one for only the listener
to decide. When performance art crosses into the music zone you get a sub genre
somewhat broadly challenged by many for its vague name of “Alternative”.
Candy, the second
album from New York based performance artist Susanne Oberbeck aka No Bra is one
such album. To merely listen to the album is to miss the point altogether. The
live performance shows just what this music is all about. The mostly naked
Oberbeck, her breasts barely covered by her long hair stands before her band
and performs an androgynous mix of spoken word and punk poetry themed around
the fringes of society where few dare to venture those that do never return
from.
This is an album
rooted in the deep physicality of the sexual fantasy and it shows in its
provocative imagery at every turn. The cover art alone is eye catching in that
lo-fi way punk records used to be – a naked man in profiles on crutches, the
now traditional Parental Advisory warning logo barely covering the subject’s genetalia.
It’s a cover to make you think and when you get to the listening you don’t doubt
that this is no holds barred record.
Opener Minger takes
an approach similar to the beginnings of punk. It’s Art house yet raw; properly
defined rather than raucous. A bed of drums and fingered bass provides the base
for a sexual murder ballad and it’s a listen that makes you curious. Once you’ve
passed the first track you find Candy, with a melody that plays with disco
beats and industrial loops perfectly.
‘What is your candy
store?’ the song asks and the implication is obvious. Another sexual fantasy impressively
pronounced in music. Date with The Devil makes a more rounded statement on
society itself. Describing a meeting between the artist and the devil for a
date, where she discovers he had lost his belief in the ultimate evil through
selfishness. It’s an album highlight and the refrain is one that really brings
some welcome philosophy to the record, mixed with the murky depths of its
sexually based fantasy.
Constructor Work
takes an industrial jazz sound for a song about picking up construction
workers, It wonders aloud whether one can get arrested for coming onto a construction
worker with some impressive lines such the smile rising ‘if I can fuck with
biology why can’t I fuck you in the loo?’ and it feels less sleazy than it
should and somewhat malevolent due to some excellent production techniques.
The artist’s somewhat
androgynous image and vocals brings uniqueness to the music presented on Candy
and you can’t help but get the songs into your head despite your subconscious protesting
that you shouldn’t. Parallels could be drawn to the beat poetry of early Patti
Smith, the malevolence of Aphex Twin and the sheer visual power of Iggy Pop and
despite all that No Bra is utterly unique.
Oberbeck knows the
power of controversy but for all the taboo topics and stance on display here
there is at its heart a love of performance art and music that shines through.
