Brainiac
Hissing Prigs In Static Couture

The first time I put on this record I thought: "damn, what a catchy melody this track has! You've already won..." and bam. After just 52 seconds, the song stopped. "Is this a joke?". Hell no! Imagine having a car accident, like a head-on collision with a sycamore. Just as the impact finishes, your nice airbag will deploy and you'll be safe. Only this airbag will be filled with crap instead of air. Safe and sound. But, irreparably, covered in sludge.

That’s the mood permeating the album. A devilishly tasteless prank.

"Hissing Prigs In Static Couture" is a sick work by an equally sick band. Shards of hysterical madness and damned concrete self-irony.

The kind of band you listen to and think: "Okay, these guys are idiots." But let’s clear one thing up right away: there are 2 types of idiots. The soft, shapeless, droopy, and small ones. And the ones that are tough, resilient, holding on to the slippery little eel with such strength that they defy gravity. Well, Brainiac are the latter.

Unlikely falsettos and cavernous voices. Elastic sounds. Apocalyptic synthesizers and heavenly noises. Dance-like rhythms and mute drums. Everything and the opposite of everything. Supporting the fabric of the album are the wild guitar riffs that are the progeny of a furious garage.

"Pussyfootin'" is the title of the century, besides being a track so twisted that it becomes the anthem of goofing off. In "Strung," you can spot the cathartic Codeine of "Second Chance" (from "Frigid Stars"). "Nothing Ever Changes" is the anti-radio hit with a fragmented rhythm, a captivating voice, and melodies as fitting as the saying "porno e buoi dei paesi tuoi" (cit. puntiniCAZpuntini). And, coincidentally, in this, there's Steve Albini’s usual touch.

An album by Touch and Go that sounds original today, let alone in 1996.

A broken toy that still entertains.

In fact, it entertains precisely because it’s broken.