Long live Flesh World’s unique commingling of punk, pop and noise
Flesh World comes at you with an overwhelming rush of melody and noise. On The Wild Animals In My Life, the band’s first full-length, guitarist/vocalist Jess Scott and guitarist/synthesizer player Scott Moore produce a sizzling tidal wave of feedback-drenched guitar pandemonium that overwhelms your senses. Scott’s warm voice bobs along on the crest of the breaker, like a delicate origami boat, a splash of color that complements the darkness of the music.
“We love feedback,” says Scott. “My favorite part of the record is the last few minutes of ‘Here In The Dark.’ It’s nothing but feedback and synthesizer noise. It comes at you like a racecar.”
Scott (Brilliant Colors) and Moore (Limp Wrist) put the band together to fuse the most extreme elements of the music they love: hardcore punk and carefree pop. “After Brilliant Colors, I was in a punk band where I just sang,” says Scott. “I didn’t play guitar. I jumped around the stage like a monkey. It made my singing stronger and more melodic. That experience became a pivot between Brilliant Colors and this band.”
The group’s aggressive twin-guitar attack, supported by drummer Diane Anastasio and bassist Andrew Luttrell, relies on music more than lyrics to get its message across.
“I like to leave room for interpretation,” says Scott. “One person’s obvious is another person’s riddle. Defining yourself as gay traps you in a historical, linear way of thinking. Music is about creating something that’s above all that.”
The album art, a photo of a man slipping out of a black leather jacket, is just as striking as the band’s music.
“It’s a photo by J. Brian, a well-known gay porn director from the ’70s,” says Scott. “It’s elegant and unisexual, gay without shouting gay, which is what we’re aiming at. Like the lyrics, it has an ambiguous element we like.”
—j. poet
