Percepticide is defined as the inability to know what you know for certain. A common form of brainwashing in toxic relationships, an abuser will control how their partner thinks, acts, and feels, until the victim no longer remembers what their own thoughts or ambitions ever were to begin with.
On their third studio album, aptly titled Percepticide: The Death of Reality, Chicago-based trio Pixel Grip emerge from the other side of such dissonance with fierce domination, producing what is now their most raw and passionate body of work to date. After a period of individual and collective struggle within the band – composed of Rita Lukea (vocals), Jonathon Freund (synth), and Tyler Ommen (drums) – Pixel Grip have come together to create a project that exudes rage, sexual energy, and catharsis.
Released on June 12, the group will later embark on The Percepticide Tour this fall, playing across North America and ending the tour with a hometown show at Chicago’s iconic Metro.
“We’ve given a lot of the songs from the new album life in the live space, but there’s a lot of them that haven’t been performed yet,” Freund says. “So that’s going to be really exciting to give those a whole new energy and life of their own when we perform them for the tour.”
Raising their distinct musical talent and artistic edge to new heights, Percepticide: The Death of Reality is Pixel Grip’s most vulnerable release as it explores grief, healing, and betrayal. With the personal subject matter found within the record, the band admits some hesitation came with releasing the album.
“[With] how personal the lyrics are, there’s some fear of ‘This is a little bit verging on diary entry mode,’” Lukea says. “But I think it’s authentic, and I think people will resonate with authenticity, and I think it’s important to see artists have all different kinds of range. Not just the cunty bangers, but something that’s real too.”
A magnetically diverse album, Pixel Grip’s latest LP flawlessly portrays the range of the band’s artistry. Including everything from sexual club-inspired ragers to somber and poetic anthems, the trio pushed themselves musically on this album more than ever before.
“We had so much time, we never had a deadline, we never had any kind of rush,” Lukea reflects. “That is not a work process that we’ve ever had before. Even just as an individual, I’ve never attempted that, so I think I would contribute that to how the lyrics ended up being the way they are. But I feel like that was a learning process, too. I have never written lyrics like the ones I have on Percepticide. Now I feel like I have a whole new skill set moving forward through that process.”
“My biggest personal takeaway from the completion of Percepticide was really highlighting the mantra, ‘It takes a village,’” Freund says. “Heavy Handed and Arena were both very DIY affairs…But I feel like with Percepticide, there was more of an emphasis on the inclusion of more people. Which, personally, I felt like at the beginning it was hard for me to relinquish that attachment over time, as I feel like I learned to do. So it really highlighted that the music quality, the recording process, and the overall end product really transcended what any of us could do as individuals, what we could do as a three-piece. It just exponentially grew, and I feel like that was really important for me to learn and witness, and it’s also set a standard going forward.”
The band’s new album arrives following a tumultuous period for the band’s career. After the release of Arena, Pixel Grip’s 2021 sophomore LP, band members struggled after a bout of continuous touring, and each individual faced their own hardships. After the band nearly broke up, Pixel Grip found the strength to create Percepticide – a project fueled by the rage and struggle that almost overpowered them – by choosing creation rather than destruction.
“We all were destructive within this process,” Freund admits. “I know I was at points, but despite it being really hard when we were destructive – as individuals and as a group – it’s amazing to feel like we can talk about that in the past as something that happened that’s not currently active. We ultimately gave each other the space to be destructive. And even though that was hard in the moment, eventually that space was still provided for each other, and that’s what led ultimately to that pendulum going from destructive to creative.”
When it came to finding the strength to keep the project going, it was ultimately their friendship as a band that inspired them.
“Even when we were fighting or threatening to break up, we really took the time to talk things out, and I was not going to let it go so easily. I don’t think any of us were,” Lukea says. “I don’t think we felt good again until we were honestly back on the road and just realized that we love each other and we’re so good at this. You start breaking bread with people, driving and sleeping in hotel rooms together, and you just bond. You realize everything’s chill and time heals all wounds. And all the talking that we did and all the love that we had for each other, it can overcome all the bullshit.”
Now, Pixel Grip are back stronger and better than ever. Percepticide builds upon the band’s biting and sensual artistry, one that pulls influence from club culture, queer spaces, and gothic dance compositions to establish for themselves an addictive and inviting musicality. While the band is known for their heavy pop-inspired resonance, they have amassed an incredibly diverse fanbase; goths, metalheads, EDM fans, and punks all adore their provocative sonic identity.
“I feel like the songs and lyrics are very resonant with a lot of people’s experience,” Freund says. “Despite the songs dealing with hard and heavy emotions, I think we still all just want to have fun…It’s empowering in that way, and it’s intentionally fun. Not to say every song is a dance banger and doesn’t have to be fun, but a core spirit is that we want to have fun and an invitation for people to come from all subcultures and walks of life.”
Lukea adds, “[It’s] not only fun music, but music that works. Very classic pop song structures, hooks, choruses, and synth leads. We’re not writing experimental music, we love pop music and hooks and choruses, so I feel like even if you have very strange textures like distortion, synth sounds, or analog drum machines, there’s still those classical structures and pop hooks in it, which I think makes it accessible to everyone.”
The band are just as enigmatic in their live shows as they are through stereo, and this fall will find Chicago’s favorite industrial pop group tearing their way across North America to play the haunting beats and carnal melodies found within Percepticide: The Death of Reality. The band undoubtedly found much growth throughout the making of the record, and they hope listeners will remember this lesson when they hear the album, and its intentionally unforgettable energy, in its entirety:
“We’re not fucking around.”
Perceptiecide: The Death of Reality is out now, and you can order it from the band here. Follow Pixel Grip on Instagram and Twitter for future updates.
Photo courtesy of Yulia Shur
