Caustic- This Is Jizzcore

ARTIST: Caustic

ALBUM: This Is Jizzcore

LABEL: Crunch Pod

REVIEWER: Matthew J.

DATE: 8-30-09

"Mature" is the last thing you'd probably call Caustic's Matt Fanale, who would probably take it as an insult anyway, but his latest album actually does display maturity in a very real sense. That's not to say that he's toned down the comedy or the tastelessness, of course, and "Cock Blockin' Beats" and the power noise-meets-R&B parody "Lady Business" prove that, as does "Teabaggin'," featuring some obscene but hilarious rapping from The Gothsicles' DarkNES. Musically, though, Fanale's grown; "Feral" features some real rhythmic complexity, its ominous textures and breakbeats more a blast to the brain than a punch below the belt, and "Formula 420," a collaboration with Assemblage 23's Nerve Filter side project, spices up distorted electro beats with glitches and a hint of piano melody. There are also several homages to the classics, most obviously on "Radio Raheem," with its eclectic list of influences, but also on "I Wanna Stay Wasted," a sort of a capella pastiche of classic street punk, and "Bacia la Capra," a deliberate nod to the clanking sample-laden groove of early Revolting Cocks. This is pretty much the best thing Caustic's ever done, and making a good thing even better, the first edition of this album features a bonus CD of remixes. The best come from Tonikom, who adds a dark breakbeat texture to the hardcore bellows and power noise beats of "Pull the Pin," and from Cyanotic, who turns the fist-pumping "Agent of Chaos" into a frantic blast of jungle beats and wildly thrashing guitars, but there's also an alternate version of "Lady Business" by Fanale himself that features different and even more sexually explicit lyrics, including the expository line, "This song is about cunnilingus, baby," which will help those Caustic fans too slow on the uptake to pick up on the song's more metaphorical elements. There are also three bonus tracks, including the affectionate and funky "Big Goth Mama," the old-school '80s electro pastiche "Funkbot vs. Spunkbot," and a deliberately offensive Combichrist take-off entitled "This Fuck Will Shut You Up" that, though amusing for all the obvious reasons, also stands up surprisingly well on its own. Smarter than he'd like you to believe but still gloriously irreverent, Fanale is sure to alienate another large chunk of the industrial scene with this one, but his fans are sure to admire his musical growth. Caustic: it's not just a novelty act anymore.

Check out Fanale's MySpace page at www.myspace.com/causticmusic for song samples and the latest news.