BSPH: Revolting Cocks - (Let's Talk) Physical

"(Let's Talk) Physical" is a composition by industrial band Revolting Cocks. It was released in 1990 on a CD version of their second album "Beers, Steers and Queers". It is a remix of their controversial cover version of Olivia Newton-John's pop classic "(Let's Get) Physical" which is itself rather raunchy song with level of double entendres challenging AC/DC's "Big Balls". The cover version just made it a bit more apparent and it caused some unreasonable objection from the singer's side. "(Let's Talk) Physical" is different. Instead of simply furthering "the butchering" of the song or just turning it inside out upside down backwards - it takes it a step further. Right into the land of minimalist music.

Technically speaking "(Let's Talk) Physical" is not exactly a song. It is a one second loop that consists of one snare drum hit followed by exaltated growling of the word "Talk!" by a singer Chris Connelly. It happens over and over and over again over the course of almost seven minutes. It should be noted that it goes on like that without any variations. Just "Talk!" and "Talk!" and "Talk!" and "Talk!". It is obvious jib at the listeners followed by continuous nauseating sequence of pokes, jabs, nudges, jolts and yerks. It is soothing after a while. You get used to it and it starts to grow on you. For some reason it sounds really cute albeit slightly obnoxious. It takes a lot of patience to get through it. I recommend to give it a listen combined with various visualizers on random. The best way to perceive this composition is to lay it over "2001" trip sequence. It starts being funny that way.

Conceptually "(Let's Talk) Physical" is a distant relative of Steve Reich's early phasing pieces like "It's gonna rain". Instead of actually evolving into something - it uses repetition to transform inside the listeners head. Overt repetition pumps up every element and disintegrates them into abstractness. Crackly sludge so to say.