Various Artists - Trust No Wave & The Wild World Of Psychic Hotline Bundle. Bleep.

Psychic Hotline - The Wild World Of Psychic Hotline

The who and the where of Psychic Hotline goes like this: it’s the solo alias of Ruth Mascelli of Special Interest, a multidisciplinary artist operating out of New Orleans, Louisiana. However like all great industrial electronic acts from the unlikeliest corners of the globe throughout history, the what of Psychic Hotline is a little foggier. We have precious few other details other than The Wild World Of Psychic Hotline.

The C60 album offers a comprehensive look into a strange realm. Subtitled as a compendium of works made between 2015 and 2019, the Hi-NRG screamers nonetheless seem like a continuation of Throbbing Gristle’s unmoored explorations into secret dimensions of sex and Richard H. Kirk and Cabaret Voltaire's late 70's work on Rough Trade alongside modern acts running the same jagged path to the edge of acceptance like Giant Swan or Beau Wanzer. ‘Spider Queen’ radiates with that post-punk, “industrial music for industrial people” mentality, Mascelli's heavily severe vocal crying out from the abyss of scurried drum machines and grizzly chord jibes. Of course, dancing is also on the agenda, as the noise-laden electro texture of ‘Location Services’ recalls the depraved disco antics of Patrick Cowley, a source of inspiration on which Mascelli doubles down with the bongo-driven Bouffant Bouffant remix of ‘Nightlife’.

The Disciples crew unearthing more hidden gems to unsettle the uninitiated. For those seeking refuge from the plight of modern society, The Wild World Of Psychic Hotline will answer your call.

Special Interest - Trust No Wave

The Disciples crew unearth the self-released demo tape from the New Orleans band released on cassette in 2016 before signing with Raw Sugar for their debut LP 'Spiralling'. Sounding as brutal as ever spoiling for a fight with a world drunk on the emissions of pig-headed monsters with their gutter politics.

Then again, from under the cacophony of industrial drum programming and no wave screeches, there’s a side of Special Interest who believe in the eternally elemental power of throwing shapes on the floor — they even have a scorched micro-meteor of a track called ‘DISCO’, and there’s no denying that the hardened bass-and-percussion rhythm of ‘Disease’ has a punk-accelerated 4/4 immediacy seeping out of its swampy distortion. Beneath the dirge of electronics also lies a sensitive core, which pokes out in the alienated melancholia of ‘(Fluid) Bound 2’ with its ice-cold synths, while the layers of harsh noise slowly peel away on the record’s closer ‘I’ll Never Do Ketamine Again’, revealing vocalist Alli Logout’s scabrous vocal.

The indistinct target of Trust No Wave is a broken status quo, a world born out of madness. For Special Interest, the greatest protest is to make a loud, screeching and relentless noise.