When post-Mars Volta group Antemasque put out an offer to buy three songs and get their upcoming album for free, one option for fans who’d already bought the songs was to pick up three tracks by Le Butcherettes instead. This Mexican art-punk trio features Mars Volta/Antemasque guitar guru Omar Rodríguez-López on bass and production, but the focal point is frontwoman Teri Gender Bender. Born Teri Suaréz, she was once described by SPIN’s Chris Martins as someone who’s easiest to imagine as “a cross between Jack White (a shredder on the guitar with the high yawp of a born rock star) and Karen O (emotive, jittery, and owning the stage with captivating dramatic range),” but whose ripping Coachella 2012 live set “proved that she should be considered in a class all her own.”
Gender Bender is in ferocious form on “Your Weakness Gives Me Life,” off of Cry Is for the Flies, Le Butcherettes’ upcoming follow-up to 2011 debut album Sin Sin Sin. As with the Antemasque deal, fans who bought three advance Le Butcherettes tracks were offered access the full album on May 1, two weeks ahead of its May 15 release date (via Rodríguez-López’s Nadie Sound). The LP also features a spoken-word track from Black Flag legend Henry Rollins. “Your Weakness” has popped up briefly online before, but you can hear its official premiere below. Ending with subtle touches of horns, it’s a blistering garage-rock salvo that is anything but weak, and most definitely alive.
