What happens when you take a “ballsy female musical theater veteran” and combine her with songs that were once sung by men? You end up with a musical concept that is truly unusual and extremely gutsy at the same time. The musician who created the unusual concept of reinterpreting songs originally sung by men in a female voice is known strictly by the band moniker of Vagina Fetishists and that is really all you need to know.
The tracks included on the new release of Blood by Vagina Fetishists have a common theme running through them. That theme is “blood”. From one track to the next, the listener experiences some of the most unusual tracks to be reinterpreted much less to be reinterpreted in a woman’s voice.
If you go about creating an album of nothing but cover tunes, the best thing to do is to try to make each song your own so you stand out from those who simply cover the tracks. The unique take concept is extremely true as you listen to each track on the Blood release from Vagina Fetishists.
The first song to be featured on the Blood release is the track “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”. While the interpretation of the track included here is far less intense than the original by Black Sabbath, Vagina Fetishists’ take on the song makes for a fine rock and roll song. The slightly easier interpretation to “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” gives the listener a glimpse into what will be coming as you make your way through the Blood release by Vagina Fetishists.
One of the most unusual covers on Blood is the Devo tune “Gut Feeling”. When Devo had created their version of the song, they did it in their style of New Wave music and the keyboards and guitars in the band’s signature sound worked together to form the music to the track. When Vagina Fetishists got a hold of the song the track transformed into a keyboard-based track with a slightly slower pace. While the music was now created by keyboard, it still contained a definite New Wave feel to it. The unusual take on Devo’s unusual style seems strangely perfectly for the song.
While Vagina Fetishists interprets some really interesting songs, one of the tracks that ends up being strong is the song “Masters of War”. The folk-rock interpretation of the song works rather well. The Grace Slick-influenced vocal delivery on the track works well to keep the song feeling as if it belongs within the musical era of the sixties.
When comparing the track the AC/DC track “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)” to others on the album, it feels slightly out of place. The track sounds downright weird when not sung in the trademark vocals of Bon Scott. The resulting sound still features plenty of energy in both the musical and vocal deliveries, but the vocals sound as if they were delivered by Ann Wilson of Heart and they don’t mix well with the Hard Rock in the music. “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)” is far from a bad track, it’s just not quite right without the male vocal delivery.
Blood by Vagina Fetishists continues with the Nirvana song “Dive”. The first thing the listener will notice with the Vagina Fetishists’ version of the song is the easier tempo. The new interpretation takes some of the edge off of the vocals that featured Kurt Cobain’s pain as he sung the lyrics to the track. The lighter approach to the vocals of the track is matched well with an equally softer approach to the music. For this track, the vocalist seems to present the notion that anger does not have to be harsh to be effective.
Although the vocalist does not sound quite right as the singer on “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It),” she more than makes up for it on the Bob Dylan track “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Dying)”. While Dylan originally performed the song with a definite folk-like approach, the lyrics of the song have an underlying darkness to them that need more than the folk-like approach. Vagina Fetishists add a bit of darkness to the music by adding some organ to the track and the vocal delivery presented on the song helps to give the song the dark approach it deserves. At 10-plus minutes, the playtime for the track is rather long but seems to fly by as you enjoy the track. And the track helps bring Blood by Vagina Fetishists to a close.
It takes a person with some creativity to think of something that is a little out of the norm. The album Blood by Vagina Fetishists is just that type of situation. And the results are interesting and fun. Some tracks are better than others, but each track is well worth the time to discover just what can be done if you ignore the obvious.
Reviewer: Matheson Kamin Rating: **** (four stars)
Check out the talent of the band Vagina Fetishists by listening to the Black Sabbath track “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath“.
Matheson's Entertainment Blog 