They’re not the first band in the world to have “pussy” in their name, so let’s not dwell on the moniker of Syracuse noise-punks Perfect Pussy. In fact, here’s singer Meredith Graves to explain: “After all this time I’ve spent being harsh on myself, it’s validating to finally be ready to turn a corner and say, “I’m perfect and I’m not going to go on thinking that I’m supposed to dislike myself.” It doesn’t mean I’m absolving myself of critique, it just means I’m not going to waste another fucking 10 minutes of my life not liking my body. It’s me being fucking stubborn.” There you are, get over it.

With only one four-track EP behind them (the stirring and intense I have lost all desire for feeling) the five-piece have signed to Captured Tracks for debut album Say Yes to Love. The good news is that they’ve lost none of their fire in the transition to a larger label. Perfect Pussy are punk rock how it should be: confrontational, noisy, melodic, warm, repelling and inviting all at once, and completely undiluted by influences outside of the band. We’ve only got eight tracks here, about twenty or so minutes of music, but not a second of it is wasted, and just about every moment is brilliant.

It’s loud, yes, but not without hooks so there’s plenty to hold onto….just don’t expect to be singing (or roaring, more appropriately) along with Graves, as it’s close to impossible at times to work out what the lyrics are. When you can, it’s rather interesting; the forceful “Interference Fits” is the song that provides the seemingly positive album title but if you listen closely to Graves’ ire as the music drops away you can hear her sing “since when did we say yes to love?” Graves has spoken of previous tracks as being “happy revelations about incendiary incidents” and while it’s difficult to decipher whether this is still the case there’s not much doubt that this is cathartic music.

Tone is set immediately through opening track “Driver”; it begins with the sound of tapes rolling and speaker fuzz before guitarist Ray McAndrew provides a buzz saw riff which everything else piles in on top of. Everything is in the red: Graves’ vocals are distorted by the noise, the guitars spill feedback and drums perforate eardrums. “Bells” is barely different, but its off-kilter rhythms recall early Dischord acts like Minor Threat while “Big Stars” is a brilliantly confrontational battering ram that has a seam of chiming melody running through it.

There’s an element of Sonic Youth to the aforementioned “Interference Fits”, and its floating outtro prepares us for the ambient noise half of “Advance Upon the Real”. It’s a real surprise to hear something quite so soothing given what’s come before and as an electronic buzz bleeds into final track “VII” it only serves as a false sense of security as Perfect Pussy return noisier than before as the buzzes build, Graves adds a distorted spoken-word vocal and things take a quasi-industrial turn for the better.

Say Yes to Love promises so much in such a short space of time yet there’s a feeling that a band which deals in such intensity will always, by nature, burn out far too quickly. Perfect Pussy better be the act that bucks the trend – we can’t afford to lose a voice as powerful and independent as Meredith Graves.

You can stream the album here.