Miss Violetta Beauregarde

Imagine the ranting crack whore on your corner had an art degree and moonlighted as frontwoman for the Locust. That's Miss Violetta Beauregarde, a young Italian lady who delivers on the promise M.I.A. failed to fulfill: Girls make the best sonic terrorists. Her second album Odi Profanum Vulgus Et Arceo (translation: "I hate the common crowd and I spurn them") might be called grind-hop, or glitch-thrash, but after you take these 16 rusty ninja stars to the forehead, you'll be too busy twitching to death to care.

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More About

• Violetta Beauregarde
• Frances Reade
• Tiananmen Square
• M.I.A. (Musician)

MVB controls an undead army of crippled electronics, layering up frantic drum-machine pulses with overdriven bleep squalls and defibrillating bass. Her main weapon is her voice, an unholy instrument that flips between hyperactive singsong, catfight scream, and full-on grindcore bellow. The whole record frequently runs off into total chaos (like on snare-and-scream "The Man Who Shot at Squirrels"), but succeeds best with a little structure, like the catchy dirge "Try to Misunderstand This One," which sounds like a very dark Le Tigre jam. "I Am the Tiananmen Square Guy and You All Are the Fucking Tanks" is both a deadly evil pop anthem and an MVB mission statement. — Frances Reade