Puscifer

Set in the context of Maynard James Keenan's vast catalog, V Is for Vagina is a bit of a stylistic curveball. For the uninitiated: when the diminutive Arizona native isn't punching the clock for art-metal monolith Tool, he's masterminding his heavy-pop side project, A Perfect Circle. But while the connection between these two outfits seems at least somewhat coherent, Keenan's genre-hopping, eccentric first release as Puscifier is puzzling—and strangely engaging. Here, his subdued vocal tricks and lyrical menace work against the sleepy sonic backdrops in bizarre, even humorous, ways. Case in point: "Rev. 22:20," a loungey stalk down the keys of a baby grand, replete with classic Keenan fare. "Christ is coming, and so am I," he coos.

Meanwhile, "Dozo" is an industrial dust bowl of vibrato guitars, aiming for Tarentino-esque suspense-drama stuffing and eerie ambiance. The menace is as palpable here as it is throughout, with Keenan warning a faceless antagonist (or is it a lady friend?), "I'll show you the difference between my gun and my pistol." Sure, the mystic heft of Tool and the rough caress of A Perfect Circle are nowhere to be found on the x-rated V Is for Vagina, but the record does witness Keenan at his most direct and playful, lampooning his lyrical tendencies and ignoring his musical ones. Besides, after years of pummeling listeners with meta-metal and anger-pop, the guy deserves to cut loose. And the approach works wonders here.

—Robbie Mackey
10.31.07