Thursday, April 03, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Music: Southern discomfort

Nashville Pussy rubs it in your face

By Newt Briggs

Go ahead. Say it. Say the "p" word. It'll be good for you--liberating and all. Five little letters to freedom: pussy.

"North America's a little uptight when it comes to pussy," says Ruyter Suys (pronounced "Rider Sighs"--her parents were hippies) lead guitarist and resident mouthpiece for sleazabilly rockers Nashville Pussy. "It's ironic in the sense that people who get all bent out of shape about the word pussy are, in fact, pussies. I mean, what the fuck, man? Fifty percent of us have them. What's the big fucking secret?"

Obviously, the female anatomy is not a problem for the Canadian-born Suys, who's been known to flaunt the goods during Nashville Pussy's legendary live shows. In fact, she--along with former bassist and fire-breathing amazon Corey Parks--may have helped put Nashville Pussy on the map with their in-your-face humpitude (the band's debut Let Them Eat Pussy featured a picture of the busty pair being orally serviced by two beefy baldheads). Unfortunately, the release of their sophomore effort, High As Hell, was followed by Parks' departure--a move that devastated a horde of trailer-park virgins but provided a welcome respite for the rest of the band.

"To be quite honest, she was a speed freak," says Suys. "When you're in a band, the most important thing is for everyone to have common vices. If everyone's an alcoholic, then y'all get along. I see it in every band. You got a band full of speed freaks, no problem. You got a band full of fuckin' cokeheads, no problem. Booze, yoga, vegans--whatever it is, you gotta be in sync with each other's sins."

But the jettisoning of Parks did not slow down the Pussy. After a brief stint with bassist Tracy Almazan (she left after realizing the burden of the band's frenetic touring schedule), the Pussy, ahem, snatched up Katie Lynn Campbell and hasn't looked back since.

"She's a road warrior. It's insane," says Suys. "She holds her liquor better than anyone in the band. She's all go, go, go. She's a great fucking bass player and hot to boot."

Now the Pussy is back in full form, raising eyebrows and stirring up a ruckus from Hog's Hollow, Ark., to Tokyo. Dismissing conventional notions of melody and musicianship, Suys and company fuse Lynyrd Skynyrd-style boogie with redneck decadence to create post-Nuge speed punk--nothing less than balls-out romp 'n' roll. Honestly, though, what else could be expected of a band that once billed itself as "Motorhead with tits" and now boasts songs titled "Blowjob from a Rattlesnake," "You Give Drugs a Bad Name" and "Gonna Hitchhike Down to Cincinnati and Kick the Shit Out of Your Drunk Daddy"?

"That whole Nirvana shit really encouraged people to be lame for a while," says Suys. "I think we're like a breath-of-fresh-air band. We kind of put it all out there. I mean, I don't want to go and see some guy whining and crying about how he can't get laid or how bad it sucks to grow up in the suburbs or whatever. That doesn't turn me on. When I go to a show, I wanna get loose. I wanna get sweaty. I wanna get horny. I wanna get wet. I wanna go home and fuck. That's what rock 'n' roll is. It's not a bunch of fuckin' crying and shit. I think it's a higher art form to do what we do than whining about your problems."

And the Pussy will put it all on display Saturday, opening for Zakk Wylde's trash-metal side project Black Label Society. According to Suys, it'll be a show to see; the Pussy has a special place in its heart for Las Vegas.

"We've got a day off beforehand, and we're coming in early," she says. "You guys are on rock hours. You can do anything you want at any time. That's what we need. We need a place that has a batting cage open at 2 in the morning and a Mexican restaurant open at 4 and a bar open at 5. It's perfect. ... And, in Vegas, we know we're not going to get any flack about our name--there's pussy all over that place."