Review Summary: So rather than just listen
Be altered by what's been said
Remember that slap?
Now, now, don’t act confused. Was it your spouse? Your father? Or maybe your best friend?
You were hanging out, talking about everyday and mundane small things like always.
As the conversation progressed you remembered why this person earned your trust and started to complain a bit. About nothing in particular, nothing very important or striking. About your weight, problems you experience socializing, how you can’t get a girlfriend, your lacking finances and so on. As you talked something sparked in his mellow eyes, his pupils dilated, eye shutters narrowed and his expression stiffened into a peculiar grin. His patience started lingering. And then he snapped. As a person that knew so much about you, he knew what buttons to push, what you were especially insecure about and what topics made you blush, feel shame or frustration. His angry, shouting voice agreed with you weigh problem, made a joke about issues you have in bed, confirmed you are no good to and don’t deserve anybody, shuttered your entire self esteem, told you need not to worry about hiding your problems because after all everybody laughs about them behind your back. That you are a cunt. Maybe you're antisocial behavior, lack of success on all accounts during your pathetic lifetime is the result of the abuse you were victim to as a child. Your eyes begin to water as he reminds you of hardship you experienced during childhood.
Entirety of your being is shaken up to its core. As you begin to apologize you burdened him with your problems, the harsh man kicks you in the guts. Words you hear hitting the ground are spurting accusations of undeniable shortcomings of your character, failure as a human being. Guilt grips you and you try to shut the man out, and in that instant - he slaps you across the face. As the shock drags you back to reality, you recognize your wounds. Anguish, self loathing and pure misery overwhelms your entire being. Thoughts of suicide that overwhelmed you leave as the mean man departs.
Emotional wounds he reopened are apparent and clear as day. They are the cause of your failures and have lingered over your entire being, forcing you to forfeit happiness you are entitled to. Like a physician that cleansed old wounds that never healed, tore all the pus from sores allowing them to recover. Whitehouse is the disinfection agent that stings like hell. It’s vile, direct, menacing, ear piercing unforgettable racket that’s the absolute antithesis to usual concept of music. Rhythmically forged static distorted beyond comprehension and ultra high pitch squeaks are the instruments of Whitehouse. Driving force behind the band, the grandfather of power electronics William Bennett absolutely nailed everything power electro stands for in this quintessential album. Lyrical themes touch misogyny, sadism, racism, various fetishism, substance abuse and even hints at pedophilia. It’s nerve wrecking. An emotional black hole that drains and empowers. Shredding convention, marvelous creation through destruction.
Bennetts vocal style have been categorized as wife beater barking. Imagine a man hitting his wife, shouting profanities as she covers her face, protecting it from the tips of his boots while lying on the floor, trying to calm him down, shivering. He ridicules her imitating her cries in a high pitch voice bordering a scream. There is nothing sacred here. Deranged shouting overlaps and overlaps while piercing high pitch tone squeeks ruining sanity and liberating the listener from himself. Sound doesn't get more in-your-face than this.
There’s a 15min long “song”, a compilation of interviews and confessions of prostitutes, mothers of children that have been molested and murdered, rape victims that just go on and on with no intervention whatsoever. The most approachable song is Cut Hands Has The Solution that encourages cutting and uses Bennetts voice and a simple drum beat as only noise makers.
The song does not pity the poor soil that has turned the knife on itself, craving attention, but acknowledges the act of that pathetic weakling.
Over the top, excessive and in any other context - forced.
It’s an approach some may attribute nothing more than shock value or even call the concept a cliche. Not with Whitehouse. Bennett practically single handedly coined a new genre of extreme underground music while you were not even in your daddy's sperm count and has more releases than you have people to talk to. Because he was sick of the slick tunes and mainstream crap that polluted the airwaves. Remember, he was forming his act in late 70's. The most moving thing in Bird Seed is its honesty and painful reality of themes used. Bands that talk about ritual murders, gore and carnage, satanism etc. might as well be selling fairy tales because this is simply not stuff one can easily identify with. On the other hand underachieving, regret for life choices, lack of education, domestic violence and that creepy uncle that's always a bit too friendly with kids on the pool is something even a bit too real and down to earth. Poking at those themes undoubtedly provides interest. After all, how come most people watch news that solely blabs about tragedies. Some lyrics might come into the category of misery porn where we read, hear or watch a protagonist that wallows in misfortune and hardship only to overcome and triumph over life's obstacles. Is that mockery or gloating?
Whitehouse is no more and Bennett has moved on. With this being one of the last and best produced records they have made one can only feel humbled and entitled being able to hear it. This is the freest and purest forms of art ever recorded.
