New York City legends the Bush Tetras have been making paranoid, groove-centered post-punk since 1979, when Pat Place left James Chance and The Contortions to found the group with singer Cynthia Sley, bassist Laura Kennedy and irreplaceable drummer Dee Pop, who died last year. The band’s last played live to a crowd of 5000 in Mexico City at the NRMAL festival in support of their “Hum” 7″ on Third Man Records.
Bush Tetras’s ‘Beauty Lies’ LP is available digitally for the first time released by the 90’s indie powerhouse, Tim/Kerr Records, ‘Beauty Lies’ finds Bush Tetras in top form. Cynthia Sley’s jagged vocals have lost none of their primal force, while Pet Place’s slash-and-burn guitar work is as riveting over the jagged rhythm section of drummer Dee Pop and bassist Laura Kennedy.
One of the most important band’s to surface from New York City’s Lower East Side music scene in the 1980’s, the Bush Tetras were pioneers of the indie movement before the term existed. Their first single. “Too Many Creeps,” released on 99 Records, a label record store owner Dave Bahlman ran out of his Manhattan shop sold 30,000 copies putting it on Billboard’s dance chart. A follow up single, “Can’t Be Funky,” charted as well. The Bush Tetras reputation also grew through legendary live performances highlighting their gritty blend of garage punk and African Rhythms.
They’ve also just shared a video for “Heart Attack” which is on their remastered, career-spanning “Rhythm & Paranoia” box set.
About ‘Rhythm and Paranoia: The Best of Bush Tetras’
Flashes of light rarely burn for long. Bush Tetras exploded into New York in 1979 and flamed out just a few years later. Yet somehow this lightning-quick band have risen from their own ashes again and again for four decades. The spark that ignited Bush Tetras tapped into a deep grid of power, fueled by guitarist Pat Place, singer Cynthia Sley, and drummer Dee Pop.
That chemistry is palpable on ‘Rhythm and Paranoia: The Best of Bush Tetras,’ which features 29 songs across 3 LPs pressed onto 180-gram vinyl and remastered by Carl Saff, plus a 46-page book with never-before-seen photos, an original essay on the band by Marc Masters, and micro essays by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, R&B legend Nona Hendryx, The Clash’s Topper Headon, & more.
From the band’s earliest recordings to their current, vital-as-ever incarnation, “Rhythm and Paranoia” – for the first time ever – show- cases the their unique, influential, and body-shaking meld of rock, punk, funk, reggae, and more in one cohesive, immersive, and meticulously constructed box set.
released November 4th, 2022
The Fat Angel Sings 