One leftover beer from last saturday was found from backpack. Stronger danish beer, and for culinaristic choise, decided to listen some Danish stuff with it.
Debut full length of Puce Mary "Success" was on turntable after very long time. It is still very very good. I was lucky enought to follow her work since very early tapes. I guess I have the very first publicly available items and almost complete discography overall. This album was one of the major leaps to new powerful sound back then (recorded 2011-2013). Much more complexity and "composition" of sound, plus clarity and production getting sharper - but still having fierce and hands-on feel to it. I think it was before this LP came out, that Freak Animal reissued "Ultimate Hypocrisy" tape, which is good, but represents the former lo-fi style. It was made simply because I had all the former tapes and was annoyed that I missed on self released tour tape. Offered to reissue it on tape just month(s) after it came out mainly to have my own copy of it, but of course it sold plenty over the years.
"Success" LP was giant leap from sound of that tape. After "Success" LP, Puce Mary made "the great panic" tape on Freak Animal, which may be most widely available of her releases? It feels like it. It certainly is one of the biggest editions ever done by FA. I suppose it could be more, but felt like "point was made" when 4 digits was reached, which seems pretty good for tape!
Now when comparing all these 3 Puce Mary LP's, you can clearly hear the progress. "Success" LP listened earlier today is really good, and hard to say which one is better. That or "Persona" LP. Latter one has more dominant vocals and further variety. "The Spiral" has nicest cover of all PM releases and sound even more complex and nuanced. Basically, the older, the noisier and harder, but newer has always progress that adds further depth. So depending on mood, hard to decide which is absolute best.
I do wish there would be some new Puce Mary, and I also wish not regression, but perhaps progression to more dirt and grain, opposed to shiny clean sound of Drought! That is no way bad album, but simply goes so far into clean production style of "electronic music" that all the ear-candy of old albums is replaced with smoothness. I got to revisit that album anyways, to see if my old impression remains the same.
With popularity, the negative side seems that artists operates in somehow different realm. Of course, there is not THAT much to do in context of "industrial / noise", but it also leads that to be able to see PM live in Finland, have meant you basically have had to go to some sort of higher profile music fest or bigger club where other performer is something I am not very interested.
I guess in near future, got to check the LR/PM vinyls as well.
