The Oldest Profession
A collection of cacophonous sounds and piercing screeches compose the genre ascending LP Teenage and Torture from Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers. The New York quartet, dive into the blues, cross ’80s punk and incorporate tumultuous grudge rock. Rough and raw cuts designed to rattle the spine and coming from a heap of crude emotion are the vibes here.
Though her “hookers” put on an excellent display of instrumentation, Shilpa Ray is without a doubt the focal point of this group. She uses beautiful melodies thrashed with scowling screams full of intensity and seemingly backed by tears of rage. The LP opens with “Hookers,” containing cool steady sounds and a rather mellow, Zeppelin-esque blues jam. The percussion drives the album’s second song “Heaven in Stereo,” which is a pure blissful collection of sounds. The album then becomes an intense, emotional roller coaster ride designed to explore all facets of sound.
The album contains various socially and humanly conscious elements including “Venus Shaver” discussing the beauty of women. In addition, “Stick it to the Woman” has a pronounced beat and rockin’ riffs as Ray yells with enlightenment of our society’s overconsumption. “Liquidation” is simply one of those tracks that can not be defined with words, for it truly is a spectacle of the classic blues rock collided with a raucous blend of punk style and attitude.
Tracks such as “Erotolepsy” bring the pop-punk rhythms and an outstanding bass line of melody to create a song that is bound to remain in the back of the listener’s mind. The closing song, “Requiem in a Key I Don’t Know,” provides a resounding conclusion embraced by quiet and melodious music from the Land of Nod.
Overall, the album is a truly extraordinary work and contains the outstanding dialectic between rage and serene calmness. Well worth a listen.