Samson and her band Men, with Michael O’Neill on guitar and Tami Hart on computer, is all about pushing forward albeit with a disarming angle. Rather then using rock ‘n’ roll as her medium, Samson and Men are all about hardcore disco and club techno, which is a novel twist. Where disco and club music are generally about emotions (sexual euphoria, love, rejection, emotional liberation) Samson has given her version heady concepts and ideas. It’s as if she has taken L.A. noise rockers Xina Xurner’s catch mantra, “Feel me, kill me, fuck me on the dance floor,” and turned it into a reality with a vengeance. This does not imply that all those heavy ideas and politics weigh Labor down and make it one long loud rant of a downer.
Labor is anything but a confrontational bummer and is, in fact, a big infectious take on performance art and, well, shaking your ass. The opener, “Power Strobe,” sets a numbing tone for the CD’s grandly throbbing inorganic palate but the first gem, “All the Way Thru,” moves the album in a different direction. Thanks to its strong melody and effortless hook, the song gives Labor its first hint of personality while preventing this techno from sounding airless and vacuum-sealed. “(she)” is the downside of what the genre can do and the song is loaded with so much sonic texture that it literally swallows Samson in the mix. Its the only song on the CD that does not work while revealing how well the rest of it does.
“Making Art,” “Next” and “I Don’t Care” are strong compositions that force the production to yield to them rather then the other way around. “Let them Out or Let me In” and “Make Him Pay”—two songs available on the download version of the album—have anger and bite to spare (they were written and produced as a protest for the Pussy Riot incident) while “Semenya” feels like an assault (with the song commenting on the Caster Semenya controversy). The kicker is “Fucked Up,” the kind of subversive stomper that could be taken personally or politically while forcing you to dance your ass off.
In front of a largely queer sold-out audience Jan. 31 at the Empty Bottle, Samson and Men took the premise of Labor and gave it a much bigger and richer dimension while defusing the heat of the records arguments and turning it into something unexpected and beguiling. It made all the difference that O’Neill was part of the mix and his guitar shrieks were mixed way up in front. With Samson dressed in an oversized man-suit (the suit figures on the cover of Labor), she seemed downright benign and polite—which did not seem to fit the music or its content. “Credit Card Babies” and “Who am I To Be So Free?” were ironic, irresistible, pungent, funny and witty. “All the Way Thru” somehow came across better then the recorded version and even “(she)” sounded like a mini-epic rather than a musical fragment. “Making Art” was dedicated to all the creative people in the room but the unrecorded gem “Dekonstruk Me” stole the night.
That large chunks of Labor and the Jan. 31 show’s set list seemed heavy on the messages seemed to be undone by Samson’s lightness and spirit of fun—which actually makes an interesting and ironic point. Samson has a lot to protest about, not by choice but by who and what she is. It may be a sign of this era that being an out, female artist is a political statement in itself but surprisingly Samson seems to take it all in stride. She may not be pissy, angry, radical or militant, but she does know how to make a point with a seductive dance beat.
Heads up: For those who missed her last month, Betty Who? will be playing Lincoln Hall on April 12. Tickets are already on sale.