Pilgrim Screw - Pilgrim Screw CS (Impotent Fetus, 2021)
Damn. This kinda blew my mind tbh. One of the best surprises of the year. Rather than attempt to put this release (which was seemingly made for me, if not for too terribly many others) into words, I snagged this essentially spot-on blurb from the Sorry State website/newsletter...
"Now, with that whole awkward intro out of the way, let’s get to some tunes! First, have y’all heard this shit called PILGRIM SCREW? Apparently it’s a couple folks from Olympia, Washington’s Gen Pop, and their new five-track cassette on Stucco Label imprint IMPOTENT FETUS has me feeling all kindsa ways.
The first track, “Foodie,” (great title, btw) appears to make good use of those “Feeding of the Five Thousand” stems that the Crass estate dropped on our lowly world in December of 2019. With Penny Rimbaud’s signature shuffle pumping at 280 BPM, droning synth and vocal loops and a pitched-up leader channeling both The Residents and Madlib’s Quasimoto, this duo is barking up every goddamn tree I have. Like, are y’all fucking with me or what?
Over the next four tracks, Pilgrim Screw takes skewed stabs at freakazoid synth-punk, lo-fi jungle ska, industrial footwork and more than a few subgenres of internet rap I’m too out of touch to name. But, hey, IT WORKS. Whether you fuck with old standby weirdos Royal Trux, now-lost 2000s geniuses Liars or any pick of punk’s best modern electro-inclusive degenerates—Special Interest, Heavy Metal, FNU Clone, etc.—then Pilgrim Screw might just be the band for you! insert obligatory Atari Teenage Riot reference(#)." - Rich/SSR