Pervcore: As Raunchy as They Wanna Be

Pervcore:
a weighty yet agile
six-piece raunchcore ensemble

by Christine Leonard

30 July 2017

You don’t have to be Tammy Wynette to know that sometimes it’s hard to be a woman, but that doesn’t mean you have to whine about it. Not when you can yell it at the top of your lungs while strange men guzzle draft beer from your cleavage. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Meet Pervcore, the most inappropriate band at your friendly neighbourhood BBQ. Good thing they’re usually the ones hosting.

“The band obviously likes to have fun and is a sleaze-thrash party band and that reputation is still intact, but everybody realizes that we’re trying to put on a performance and equality counts,” says guitarist Mike Davies (2/3 of Nothing).

“I think of this band as being akin to something like Nashville Pussy; we’re all about entertainment and empowerment. The musical content has evolved to the point where you can’t really perform properly with 15 beers in your system. Everybody’s still having a good time, but it’s more about putting on a great show.”

Since being formed four years ago by co-vocalists TerraLee Doolittle and Emi Van Der Pol, Pervcore has become a genre-defining band that puts female talent upfront without pulling any punches.

“It’s how I get my anger out,” says newlywed Doolittle. “For example, the song “Get Fucked” is based on a true story. Some guy hit me with a bat, so I got up and hit him right back. Take that!”

Backed up by the instrumental support of Davies, along with Emi’s bassist/spouse, Kuba Van Der Pol (he took her name, how cool is that?) and TerraLee’s husband/percussionist Dallas Lobb (Electric Revival), and founding guitarist Craig Kubitzki, the band began generating some seriously vitriolic material.

“Craig makes up the metal contingent and I would be the punk rock component,” veteran string-slinger Davies elaborates.

“Like any good thrash band, we’re a punk-metal crossover. Most of the songwriting is done from the punk rock side of things and then it gets spiced up with some Iron Maiden-esque split guitar solos. We take the three-chord punk thing and put a really big melodic spin on it. Then you throw in the two female powerhouses and the dynamic of the two works together really well. They’re both tremendously vocally talented and have huge range and presence.”

Romancing audiences as a weighty yet agile six-piece raunchcore ensemble, Pervcore thrives on blurring that fine line between the provocative and the profane. Stepping off the curb on their forthcoming release, Tales from the Gutter Volume I, the sextet is primed to seduce new fans and reward the old with a combination of guile and gusto that has to be seen, heard and perhaps even tasted live to be truly appreciated.

“I get a lot of feedback from girls about how they love what we say and the way we say it,” reports vocalist Van Der Pol. “A lot of the lyrics and song content are based on things that a lot of girls want to say, but don’t normally get to, because of politeness.” 

Pervcore releases Tales from the Gutter Volume I will be released at Distortion on August 5 (Calgary).