Mrs. Piss (Chelsea Wolfe & Jess Gowrie) – “Downer Surrounded By Uppers” & “Knelt” // Stereogum

The dark, gothed-out singer-songwriter Chelsea Wolfe tends to vacillate between spare, haunted doom-folk and heavier forms of music. Last year, she released her spartan album Birth Of Violence. Last month, she turned up on an all-star metal cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train.” And today, Wolfe announces that she and her friend and collaborator Jess Gowrie have a new project together. They’ve given it a great name: Mrs. Piss. 

Gowrie, also of the Sacramento sludge band Horseneck, is Wolfe’s drummer. In Mrs. Piss, Wolfe sings and plays guitar, while Gowrie plays drums, guitar, and bass, and does the programming. Together, they make a grandly grungy noise — something bigger and more anthemic than what we’re used to hearing from Wolfe. 

Mrs. Piss will released their debut album Self-Surgery later this month, and they’ve just shared its first two singles. “Knelt” is a titanic churn, an industrial doom headbanger that never eases out of its slow and colossal groove. “Downer Surrounded By Uppers” rips a little harder; it’s an ugly riff-monster that captures some of the scuzzy propulsion of ’90s noise-rock. Both songs are elevated by Wolfe’s craggy, vulnerable vocals, and both have flickering, atmospheric black-and-white videos. Below, check out both songs, as well as the Self-Surgery tracklist and the things that Wolfe and Gowrie have to say about the project.

via Stereogum