One morning in September, Pleasure Venom leader Audrey Campbell woke up to a real-life punk fantasy. Riot grrrl pioneer Kathleen Hanna had tweeted the Austin act’s gritty summer single “These Days,” elaborating: “Love the sheen of early English punk records mixed with the unapologetic metal heaviness, and how her vocals both float above and yet are still a part of the instrumentation.”: “I don’t know what I would have been without Le Tigre and Bikini Kill in middle school,” says Campbell of the tear-jerking experience.: Throughout her Houston adolescence, marching band kid Campbell faced a crippling fear of public singing. Collegiate acting classes eventually prompted her current experimental roster of guitarists Scott Riegel and Brendan Morris, bassist Fernando Rojas, and drummer Thomas Valles.: “In college, I would be sharing a scene with somebody and they’re completely breaking down before me, and then you’re both breaking down,” shares the bandleader. “It gives me chills thinking about that honest, raw transfer of energy. It’s what I go for during a show.”: Pleasure Venom’s new EP grabs at the locals’ high-voltage live sound, employing co-production from Ringo Deathstarr frontman Elliott Frazier. His band joins the release party, put on by Monica Skinner and Gabryella Desporte as fresh, inclusive booking outlet Hex in the City.: Campbell phoned in while wrapping up a video for snarling track “Deth.” Her previous self-directed shorts juxtapose Klan marches, riots, and Seventies Soul Train clips. Police shootings influenced this latest video, set in an underwear store.: “I have a responsibility as an artist to say something,” she explains. “I would like to get the point across that queer people and young people of color should be able to go out and have frivolous fun without fear of something bad happening.”
Sat., Nov. 24, 9pm