Power electronics is an inherently extreme genre, in terms of sound and lyrical content. Sound-wise power electronics contain passages of noise, screaming vocals, distorted synths, and some rhythmic qualities to name a few. A good example of what power electronics ‘sounds like’ would be with the track ‘Why You Never Became A Dancer‘ by Whitehouse.
This song features some of the main features of power electronics. Distorted rhythmic loops, yelling vocals, and graphic lyrics. The song is a response to the short film ‘Why I Never Became A Dancer’ by Tracy Emin. In which she talks about her casual sex life as a teenager among other topics. She entered a dance competition to try and get out of London. But was yelled at by a gaggle of boys in a harassing manner. In the track William Bennet (sole consistent member of Whitehouse) critiques Tracy. With lines like “Another bed staining cunt” which is in reference to Tracy’s art piece called ‘My Bed’. Possibly critiquing the work as being pretentious. The track perfectly shows off what power electronics has to offer.
Lyrically lots of power electronics focus on the themes of child abuse, murder, sexual assault, racism, sex, misogyny, and drug addiction just to name a few. Examples of this would be Deathpile’s song ‘Shrine‘ of his record ‘G.R.’ which is an album written from the perspective of Gary Ridgway, aka the Green River Killer.
Gary Ridgway is a convicted serial killer responsible for the murders of 71 people through the years 1982–1998. Most of these murders were of young women. Gary was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole and was convicted on 49 murders, though he confessed to 71. Shrine is written about the murder of Carol Christensen that took place in May of 1983, she was 21 at the time of her murder. Below there is a brief summary of what happened to Carol.
Passage from https://www.karisable.com/grkchristensen.htm
“It appeared her body had been dunked in water and reclothed backwards, she had one shoe on the wrong foot, the other shoe was not found. She had a bag placed over the head. Two cleaned fish were laid across her body. She had raw sausage around her, a wine bottle in her hand, and two cleaned fish across her chest, believed by some to symbolize the Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ.”
Hence the title is called ‘Shrine’. She was turned into one.
Jonathan Canady (one half of Deathpile) writes about the actions committed by Gary, with lyrics like…
“I told them I never had sex with her But I not only fucked her
I made her into a shrine
Body and blood “
This is an example of the raw, and brutal lyrics power electronics are known for. As graphic as it is, it makes sense why. Since the whole record is written from the point of view of a real serial killer. And it is interesting to hear this tragic story from the view of a sociopath.
Some other lyrics are…
“The beginning of May ’83
I picked her up on the strip
Fucked her
Choked her with fishing line
Took her body to Maple Valley
Stripped her
Baptized her in the river
Put her clothes back on
Bag over her head
Two fish across her body
Meat in her hand
Wine bottle next to the body
My shrine”
In the lyrics above you can see that deathpile took exactly what happened to Carol and wrote it from the point of view of Gary. It is a very unsettling track to listen to. With this repeated phrase ‘Body and Blood’ being said throughout the song.
G.R. is a very influential project, even being sampled on experimental hip hop trio ‘clipping.’s song ‘Body and Blood’. Named after the repeated phrase in the song Shrine.
It’s not just the contents of the songs that can cause ‘controversy’. Even the titles are provocative, like Whitehouse’s ‘A Cunt Like You’, Deathpile’s ‘The First Whore’, and Anenzephalia’s ‘Mechanical Rape’. Is it done for shock value? I mean sure, it’s not uncommon for power electronics acts to thrive in controversy.
Power electronic artists are infamous for using nazi and fascist imagery in their live shows, and graphic imagery in general. In my opinion, I find the use of nazi imagery quite boring and comes across as they are trying too hard. It goes without saying, but personally, I am fully against racism, fascism, homophobia, and any hate directed towards people because of their heritage. I like exploring disturbing ideas and concepts. And using graphic imagery, But do not agree with them in any way, shape or form.
A lot of power electronics (in particular Whitehouse) are incredibly satirical, like in their song ‘Wriggle like a fucking eel.’ Which is a critique of modern dance songs telling people how to dance. Here’s an excerpt.
“You boy!
How’d you like to wet your feet in a cold swimming pool?
What does your voice sound like underwater?
At night?
Can you do the chicken-skin swim?
Can you do the chlorine gargoyle?
Can you wriggle?
Like an eel? “
With lyrics like “Can you do the chicken-skin swim? ” and “Can you do the chlorine gargoyle? “. Clearly, mocking dance moves that both William and Phillip view as dumb and pointless.
Even though groups like Whitehouse are satirical in their content. They do not shy away from discussing difficult subjects. In the aforementioned song ‘A Cunt Like You’ of the album ‘Mummy and Daddy’. Whitehouse is talking about mental abuse. Here’s an excerpt…
“Listen to the sound of being alive
You look like a fucking bat
You old slut
I really loathe vulgarity, so common
Your disgraceful cellulitis
You will never be the same again, cunt
Fucking stereotype
Fucking stereotype
You take just like a cunt
Cunt fucks just like a cunt
You ache like a cunt
Cunt fucks just likes a cunt
Cunt ”
Artwork by Trevor Brown
You can see how Whitehouse doesn’t shy away from vulgarity in their music, showing how hateful they are against whoever they are talking about. I find this song, amongst many other tracks in their discography, very moving. As it brutally describes these awful actions taking place in such a raw and unfiltered way. It’s quite refreshing. I also find it puts you in the shoes of someone completely different from yours. The song is produced by Steve Albini of Big Black fame, another group that isn’t afraid to provoke. Even though the lyrics are vulgar, it works with the context of the track and works very much in its favour.
Conclusion
Power Electronics is a largely misunderstood genre I believe. There is a general misunderstanding of what the power electronics scene stands for and advocates. At this moment there are more black, lgtbqia+, and female noise and power electronics artists. For example, Dreamcrusher is a queer African American noise artist challenging the boundaries of noise music. Lingua Ignota is a female producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist combing noise, power electronics, neo-classical, and other avant-garde genres together.
Now just like in any genre, there are genuine racist, misogynistic, and fascist bands and artists for sure. But I believe labelling power electronics as a racist, homophobic, and misogynistic genre. Is just plain false.