Insect Sex Act
Act I (Stacked)
With a pedigree extending from Scratch Acid through Pong via Ministry, ATX’s Insect Sex Act are quotable experts in Texas-style slam-bang rock psychosis. Their debut sounds like it was birthed in an overheated, foul-smelling rehearsal space, where spiraling waves of noise pulverize their way into the limbic system. Act I opens with “How the West Was Wonderful,” which coalesces Brett Bradford’s iron skillet guitar with a nut-tight prog-punk rhythmic assault from bassist Jason Craig and drummer Max Brody, guttural, spoken-word vocals atop a discombobulating bed of samples. The lightning-speed instrumental hoedown “I Dug a Hole for You” approximates the sound of tunneling toward hell in a runaway mine train full of pit vipers. “Trailer Flood” posits the late Randy “Biscuit” Turner as a downriver prophet of doom in one of his final recorded vocal turns. Richard Alexander gives guest vox on “Pinniped,” a tale of brain-twisting intrigue involving Hobby Lobby, a pretty woman, and bookends. Act I spins to a furious climax with “We Love You,” which turns a series of arena rock clichés against itself with distorted glee before concluding with “Thank you, Lubbock, Texas! Goodnight!”
This article appears in May 12 • 2006.
