Something fierce

You’d actually be hard-pressed to find much ink on Olympia, Wash.'s Fierce Perm. Well, aside from having one of the most ridiculously brilliant (or is it brilliantly ridiculous?) names ever, the band captures all that is good in rock music that has come out of the Pacific Northwest over the last two decades.

And Fierce Perm’s anonymity could soon change with the band’s just-released debut, Panic. The album’s title track is a mix of surfy, fuzzed-out guitars and quiet/loud dynamics that carry on the tradition of seminal Riot Grrl band Bratmobile, with curvaceous vocalist Nadia Buyse’s breathy vocals screaming sexy when they’re not simply just screaming.

And what can you say—the band, which also includes guitarist Steve Menter, bassist Matt Brose and drummer Greg Taylor, pays homage to Judy Garland’s daughter: ‘I’m getting tired / I’m getting restless / I’m turning into / Liza Minnelli,” Buyse sings silkily in ‘Liza Minnelli” before the song slowly transforms into a hulk of screaming and guitar distortion.

Fierce Perm is currently heading across the States in support of the album and will land at The Crux Aug. 10.

When asked for a little background on Fierce Perm, Buyse responded simply: ‘Fierce Perm doesn’t know much about writing bios … We don’t like to refer to ourselves in the third person but people should come see us in Chico; that’s all they need to know.”

Fierce Perm might be the best band name I’ve ever heard. How did it come about?

Nadia Buyse: Perms are out and fierce is way too in. So the dynamics of those two words marinating together is mind-boggling.

What/who inspires you to play the music you do?

We’re fire signs; we love to perform … like Liza.

How did you approach recording the new album?

Well … the recording process can take you to the bottom and catapult you to the top before you can say, “Hey dude, plug my shit in.”

If you could play one last song before the stage self-destructed, what would it be?

“Get Your Freak On” by Missy Elliott.

Which albums are a must for the tour?

The new Sean Paul; Jay-Z, The Blue Print. Nadia’s iTunes CD compilations consisting of, but not limited to, Ying Yang Twins, Julie London, Billie Davis, The Knife, Holly Golightly, etc. Pretty on the Inside and Live Through This—you know, by Hole.

I notice that there are a lot of younger teens sporting shirts from classic rock and punk bands. Do you think kids nowadays are looking for music that’s a little more stripped down and less technical?

Lots of that shit is marketed toward them. I don’t think 14-year-old kids looking for something valuable in their life think about stuff like whether or not [bands] are being less technical or not. That doesn’t even figure in to their equation. Plus it doesn’t matter if it’s punk or rap or reggaeton, little kiddies like music to not be like their parents and that’s a good thing. Problem is that Hot Topic wants to exploit that. But Fierce Perm does love the mall!

Ramones or Sex Pistols?

Babes in Toyland.