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Puscifer’s Donkey Punch The Night offers a few unique tunes and a cover worth listening to once, but as a whole, the EP is the most lacking studio product Maynard James Keenan has put out in recent memory.
The front-man for both Tool and A Perfect Circle has been recording and touring under the Puscifer moniker for the past few years while not making wine on his vineyard in Northern Arizona. The first Puscifer record, V is for Vagina, closely resembled a more tongue in cheek version of an early Nine Inch Nails record and on the sophomore release, Conditions for my Parole, Maynard really came out of his shell, utilizing a wider variety of instruments on songs that are among the most gentle he has ever written.
The acceleration of his productivity and artistic development with Puscifer thus far has been impressive for a guy who is used to putting out a record every few years. That’s why Donkey Punch The Night is so disappointing. It starts out with a pretty straight-forward cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” What follows are two original Puscifer tunes, and the rest of the EP consists of remixes of those two originals.
The songs are alright and diehards are sure to sink their teeth into Donkey Punch The Night as they wait for a lengthier release from the reclusive front-man. However, in light of his 20 year recording career and the patient perfectionism he has championed with bands like Tool, this new release seems just a bit out of character.
It’s worth listening to start to finish. The replay value is the issue.
