Soul-Crusher - Music and Lyrics

Music and Lyrics

Soul-Crusher continued to develop the punk-like noise rock style of its predecessor. The record's sound has been described as "Beefheart in painfully tight trousers trying to scream his way over Sonic Youth and The Birthday Party playing different songs in the same room." Sean has cited The Cramps, The Birthday Party, Flipper, Butthole Surfers, and Black Flag as primary influences to the band during this time. She said, "I would write bass riffs that were very driving and tribal with Ivan’s drums, very Birthday Party and Butthole Surfers-influenced. Then sometimes we would just tell Tom to go nuts and make some noise!". Guay also created entire tracks of guitar feedback and noise, which didn't relate to any of the songs, that the band would proceed to layer over the album. Rob would usually work out the lyrics and vocal arrangement after the music had already been written, sometimes even waiting until the band was in the studio to finish the song. He felt that the band had finally solidified into a unit and that the record perfectly showcased their sound during that era more so than anything else they had recorded before, although he was very critical of the band's music and the noise rock genre at the time, going as far as to say:

Rob recorded a variety of television and movie dialogue and sound effects to use on the album. This would become a characteristic that White Zombie would be known for on their later albums, especially on their Geffen releases.