NYC's Genre Is Death's new single, video

Photo by Feo @feonyc

It makes perfect sense that noisy NYC duo Genre Is Death got tapped to open for Lydia Lunch on the upcoming Southern Tour in April. The queen of No Wave likes real deals, brutal truth, and wouldn’t mince words at gunpoint.

This two-person team of Ty V (guitar, vocals) and Tayler Lee (bass, vocals) meets all of those Lunchian pre-req’s. Need proof? You’ve got it with their new single, “Attractive People” B/W “Cold Man,” for their upcoming May 1 release on In The Red Records.

When “Attractive People” hits go, the beat that kicks it off, which has a hooky pep, immediately reminds me of the Butthole Surfers’ ‘80s gloriously brutal classic, “Human Cannonball,” and while that backbone remains until the track’s piercing end, Genre is Death’s skin-stripping riffs take it down their own dark path, with quality on par with those Texas legends.

The track’s measured, relentless grit holds you on the tightrope, wondering when it might knock you over the edge, and that state of suspension is nothing but tense, sexy, and addictive. This is one of those bands where either person singing is a delight, so when they team up on the mic, it’s a high-voltage power pack.

The ‘B’ side, “Cold Man,” opens with the Tayler delivering the line, “I think I’m too cool to consort with you/’Cause I wrote a good song at 22,” and of course it causes a pause where you laugh and think about the one, or one hundred, people it makes you recall. It’s a noise-punk diss track that emphasizes how boring and tiresome its subject is through her cavernous, righteously cold vocals. The musical turbulence beneath her knows when to relent and when to hit ‘attack mode.’

If these songs are an indicator of what the full-length will deliver, we’ll hope April does away with itself quickly.

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Genre Is Death’s upcoming tour dates:

Southern Tour (Supporting Lydia Lunch)

• 4/16 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves

• 4/17 Austin, TX - Far Out Lounge

• 4/19 New Orleans, LA - Siberia *with Mike IX of Eyehategod

• 4/20 Birmingham, AL - Saturn Club *with Mike IX of Eyehategod

• 4/21 Atlanta, GA - 529

• 4/22 Asheville, NC - Fleetwoods

• 4/23 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506

• 4/24 Washington, DC - Comet Ping Pong

• 4/25 Philadelphia, PA - Ruba Club

• 5/3 New York, NY - Madame X - Attractive People Album Release Show