The minds behind Perfect Pussy didn’t figure they’d make much of a peep outside of their native Syracuse when the five of them came together as a fake band for a film.

click to enlarge

Photo: Drew Reynolds

The minds behind Perfect Pussy didn’t figure they’d make much of a peep outside of their native Syracuse when the five of them came together as a fake band for a film, let alone become an international symbol of feminism in the still often alarmingly sexist hardcore and punk scenes across the globe. But six months after a humble, raw but powerful little demo cassette tape caused a wholly unexpected stir in outlets like Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, that’s precisely where the band finds itself.

Most of this is thanks to frontwoman dynamo Meredith Graves, who you’ll find musing over modern feminism with Interview and sharing fashion tips with Elle all in the name of female empowerment. But her bandmates, including guitarist Ray McAndrew, are more than happy to take on the cause with her.

“It’s so strange,” McAndrew said. “In our hometown, in the hardcore scene, there was a lot of racism, misogynistic homophobia. They’ve started to check their privilege a little bit.”

Not that there hasn’t been backlash, too.

“I was walking down the street the other day, and someone who plays in a lot of bands around here just drove by and flipped me the bird,” McAndrew said. “He was someone I had considered a friend. It’s funny how quickly people turn on you.”

It’s a small price to pay, though, for the international recognition and coverage for Perfect Pussy, much of which was hooked by the explosive name that McAndrew said Graves concocted as “a fuck you to body image.”

The only thing more explosive is its searing, mayhem-thriving but surprisingly melodic hardcore art-punk sound, on full display with I Have Lost All Desire for Feeling, the aforementioned cassette demo that ushered in the whirlwind.

“I just laugh whenever I think about it. I still don’t get how or why it happened,” McAndrew said. “The night it happened, we just went to the bar and got shitfaced. I don’t think we let it get to our heads, though. It’s weird seeing your name on Pitchfork when you’ve been playing in basements and never stepped on an actual stage.”

The band “got more serious” soon after, realizing there was a rare opportunity to turn a passion into its livelihood, and approached its debut record, Say Yes to Love, with laser-like focus. The album was written and recorded entirely within two weeks and hit shelves in March through Captured Tracks, a label renowned for indie rock upstarts like Beach Fossils, Mac DeMarco.

“There was definitely pressure that we’d never really imagined, but we handled it,” McAndrew said. “[The album has] these really pretty chords, but we got it to sound really gross, which is how we like it.”

The plans moving ahead aren’t totally pinned down, but there’s a good chance the quintet hits the self-destruct button sooner rather than later. An international tour follows the massive national trek that winds through Oklahoma City on Monday, and another full album will follow a series of 7-inch singles, including a split with Welsh noise-pop outfit Joanna Gruesome. But Perfect Pussy is intent on dying as it lived: on its own terms.

“We’re in no rush to do it,” McAndrew said, “but we are definitely going to do another album and then break up.”