Pill are not f*cking around. The Brooklyn-based post-punk quartet is led by Veronica Torres, a woman with a voice like an emergency alarm that has learned how to explain a crisis. The lyrics of Pill songs, most of which she writes, touch on everything from rape culture and institutionalized sexism, to the gruesome specter of imperialism, and the squelchy world of sex fetishes. Basically, nothing is taboo or off-limits from the sweeping, frenetic pulse of Torres and co.
Their debut album Conveinence and is out today via Mexican Summer. It follows up an initial EP via Parquet Courts’ Dull Tools label and a 7-inch the band put out late last year featuring “Hot Glue” b/w “A.I.Y.M” that blew me away from the very first listen.
When I spoke with Torres earlier this summer for Brooklyn Magazine, she extrapolated on why the band felt compelled to address such political topics:
I can get pretty fiery. But it’s definitely a collective feeling. All of the guys are definitely super supportive of women, the LGBQT community, everything. Though I write the lyrics I bounce a lot off them. We’re all very thoughtful people, and especially writing the new album we all wrote little pieces and meditated on what we wanted to include.
The lyrics are a core part of Pill’s identity, but if it wasn’t for the accompanying tempest of fiery post-punk rage, the words wouldn’t hit with as much force as they do. The resulting squall, which is almost always spiked with an enormous dose of chaotic saxophone, makes them anything but convenient. In a year like 2016, that’s a good thing. Stream the album below.
Convenience is out August 19 via Mexican Summer. Get it here.
