Caustic is an American

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

band based out of

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, United States, created in 2002 by DJ Matt Fanale (AKA Eurotic), who is the sole consistent member. The band's live lineup varies quite a bit, largely depending on the location of the show. Caustic's lyrics are typically humorous, while the music itself ranges between older styled industrial and more modern styled powernoise. Caustic has performed live at a number of international industrial music festivals, including the 2005 and 2006 Providence Industrial Festival and the 2006 Blacksun, Reverence, Indoctrination, and the UK's Infest Festival in 2007.

Background

History

Originally the debut album, '' Unicorns, Kittens, and Shit'', was supposed to be released by Static Sky Records in early 2006, but due to production issues surrounding the CD liner notes, the release of the album was pushed back until summer 2006. After Static Sky Records closed, Caustic moved to the Crunch Pod label. The debut album is listed as a co-release between the then defunct Static Sky Records and Crunch Pod. Caustic has enjoyed moderate success in 2006 with the release of ''Unicorns, Kittens, and Shit'', which hit number 1 on

Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a record label founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1993 by the late Dave Heckman. The label's all-electronic format closely tracked with European contemporaries, such as Off Beat, and, since 1995, has been instrumenta ...

' mail-order site. Caustic's second full-length '' Booze Up and Riot'' propelled the project even further, with a follow-up planned for late 2008 on Crunch Pod. In the meantime Caustic has also released several split EPs and CDR releases, as well. Matt Fanale has been in side projects such as m00ntz! (with Eric Oehler (Null Device) and Chuck Spencer (Stochastic Theory)), as well as currently with Parasite Twin (with Brian Schuh), and Prude, with Chemlab's Jared Louche, Cyanotic's Sean Payne, and Plastic Heroes' Marc Plastic. Perhaps one of Caustic's more famous songs is "Kill

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

" Written in response to

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band

's song on ''

Decemberunderground ''Decemberunderground'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band AFI, released on June 6, 2006, through Interscope Records. The album was supported by three singles, " Miss Murder", " Love Like Winter", and " The Missing Frame". Record ...

'' "Kill Caustic". The title of that song, however, had nothing to do with Caustic. In 2010, right before the release of ''And You Will Know Me By The Trail of Vomit'', Fanale publicly declared he gave up drinking, frequently blogging about his experiences with his alcoholism. The song "White Knuckle Head Fuck" on 2011's ''The Golden Vagina of Fame and Profit'' is specifically about his dealing with withdrawal.

Genre and style

Caustic can largely be described as

and/or powernoise, with a more humorous and

self-deprecating Self-deprecation is the act of reprimanding oneself by belittling, undervaluing, disparaging oneself, or being excessively modest. It can be used as a way to make complaints, express modesty, invoke optimal reactions or add humour. It may also be u ...

tone than similar acts: Fanale has claimed Caustic's genre to be "Jizzcore," as a joke about the amount of self-indulgent, artist-created subgenres in industrial. Influences Matt Fanale has referenced include

Revolting Cocks Revolting Cocks, also known as RevCo, are an American-Belgian industrial rock band, and sometimes supergroup, that began as a musical side project for Richard23 of Front 242, Luc van Acker, and Al Jourgensen of Ministry. History 1984: Or ...

Hank III Hank is a male given name. It may have been inspired by the Dutch name Henk,The Origins of 10 Nicknam ...

Pop Will Eat Itself Pop Will Eat Itself are an English alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. Initially known as a grebo act, they changed style to incorpor ...

Chemlab Chemlab is an American industrial rock band formed in Washington D.C. in 1989 by Dylan Thomas More, Joe Frank, and Jared Louche (then known as Hendrickson). Influenced by the pioneers of the industrial genre, such as Throbbing Gristle, Chemla ...

, Atari Teenage Riot, and Stromkern, as well as the comedians

Doug Stanhope Doug Stanhope (born March 25, 1967) is an American stand-up comedian, author, political activist and podcast host. His stand-up material favors caustic and often obscene observations of life in the style of Bill Hicks and Bill Burr, which he del ...

Bill Hicks William Melvin Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material—encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy—wa ...

, and

Louis CK Louis Alfred Székely (; born September 12, 1967), known professionally as Louis C.K. (), is an American stand-up comedian, screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. C.K. won three Peabody Awards, three Grammy Awards, six Primetime Emmy Awards, and a ...

Live

Live performances are often noted for the often frenetic interaction with the audience and the band's surroundings, characterized by mild drunken belligerence. Forties were often on prominent display. Bizarre costumes and frenetic lightshows are also a staple: Caustic was set to open for 5 dates of the 2006 KMFDM/COMBICHRIST tour, but managed to get kicked off within 24 hours. Of note is Caustic's last performance of 2006 at the Indoctrination Festival in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in which Fanale commandeer the event's

video projector A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signalling (telecommunication), signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens (optics), lens system. Video projectors use a very bright ultra-high-per ...

to project

gay porn Gay pornography is the representation of sexual activity between males. Its primary goal is sexual arousal in its audience. Softcore gay pornography also exists; it at one time constituted the genre, and may be produced as beefcake pornogra ...

onto the band (consisting of Fanale and

the Gothsicles The Gothsicles is an American industrial and electronic body music (EBM) band formerly based out of Chicago, Illinois before moving to Boston, Massachusetts in 2018. The group was formed in Wisconsin in 2002 by Brian "darkNES" Graupner, who ha ...

). He also taped his microphone to his chin with clear

duct tape Duct tape (also called duck tape, from the cotton duck cloth it was originally made of) is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhesi ...

, festooned the stage with pages from a gay pornographic magazine, sprayed the audience with a

douche A douche is a device used to introduce a stream of water into the body for medical or hygienic reasons, or the stream of water itself. Douche usually refers to vaginal irrigation, the rinsing of the vagina, but it can also refer to the rinsing ...

, had a

rubber chicken A rubber chicken is a prop used in comedy. The phrase is also used as a description for food served at speeches, conventions, and other large meetings, and as a metaphor for speechmaking. Description A rubber chicken is an imitation plucked fowl ...

shoved down his pants as well as taped to his head and arm, and, after assailing the audience with the rubber chicken repeatedly, was handed a bouquet of

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

s with the chicken taped to it.

Discography

Full length albums and EPs

*''I Am On Fire EP'' Sonic Mainline (2004) *''Unicorns, Kittens, and Shit'' Static Sky / Crunch Pod (2006) *''Booze Up And Riot'' Crunch Pod (2007) *''Savage Lands'' (split disc) Coreline Media Projects (2008) *''I Am On Fire MEGAFLAMER EDITION'' Crunch Pod (2008) *''This is Jizzcore 2CD'' Crunch Pod (2009) *''And you will know me by the trail of Vomit...'' Independent release (2010) *''The Golden Vagina of Fame and Profit'' Metropolis Records (U.S.)/L-Tracks Recordings (Europe) (2011) *''The Man Who Couldn't Stop'' Metropolis Records (2012) *''Industrial Music'' Negative Gain (2015)

Special releases

*''Meld'' Endif vs. Caustic split CDr Sonic Mainline Records / Thirdwave Collective (2005) *''Rainbows, Puppies, & Crap'' special mp3 album available for download (2006) *''Give Me Free Handjobs'' free online remix ep (2006) *''High Art for Low Expectations'' Caustic vs. Justin Mathew Mooney split CDr Sonic Mainline (2007) *''Binge Drinking Special Edition'' (accompanying CDR with Booze Up and Riot- 200 ltd edition) (2007) *''Hangover Special Edition'' (limited CDR sold singly or with Booze Up and Riot- 200 ltd edition) (2007) *''Douche Ex Machina'' (remix CDR limited to Kickstarter.com backers only- 100 copies) Independent release (2011)

Compilation appearances

*Decadent Tongue on ''Electroculture Sampler Volume 1'' from www.electrogarden.com (2004) *Drag Show Gone Wrong on ''Electro/R/Evolution Volume 1'' Static Sky Records (2005) *Your Stupid Fucking Face on ''Friends of Brokecore Vol. 2'' CDr Brokecore (2005) *Rapidly Punching the Soft Spot on ''Das Bunker: Fear of a Distorted Planet'' 2CD Das Bunker (2006) *Digital Mangina on " Endzeit Bunkertracks: Act II" 4CD Alfa Matrix (2006) *Romophobia on ''New Input Noise'' compilation (2006) *Drag Show Gone Wrong (imperfect mix by Stochastic Theory) on ''Silver Echo Records Presents, Vol 1'' (2006) *MMM Papscraper I Love You (Cervello Elettronico mix) on ''Septic VII'' compilation ''Dependent'' (2007) *MMM Papscraper I Love You (Cervello Elettronico Original mix) on " Endzeit Bunkertracks: Act III" 4CD Alfa Matrix (2007) *

Dare To Be Stupid ''Dare to Be Stupid'' is the third studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on June 18, 1985. The album was one of many Yankovic records produced by former McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. Recorded between August 1984 and March 1985, the ...

on ''Electronic Saviors Presents: Respect the Prime 1986 Revisited'' (2016)

Remixes

*Enemy Within (Battle for New Orleans mix) on ''The Rogue Pair'' by

C/A/T The GSI C/A/T (Computer Assisted Typesetter) is a phototypesetter developed by Graphic Systems in 1972. This phototypesetter, along with troff software for UNIX, revolutionized the typesetting and document printing industry. Phototypesetting is mo ...

*Enhancer (Triple D Cl0b mix) on ''ATF'' by C/A/T *Databass (Caustic Floorwhore mix) on ''The Blackout Remixes'' by PTI *Falling Behind (Catching Up mix) on ''Dialogue'' by Stochastic Theory *Sleeper Cell (meamthereaper mix) on ''Meld'' by Endif *Turn Signals Are Still Cool (Pimp My Rhyme Mix) on ''NESferatu'' by The Gothsicles *Small Time Pedophile (Caustic's Gary Glitter Mix) on 'This Is What We Seek' by W.A.S.T.E. *Here (Chuck Tolerates Caustic Mix) on 'Opposite Extremes' by Stochastic Theory *Traffek (Street Legal Mix) by Sleep Clinic *The Last Tribe (you suck off hobos mix) by Replogen *Heavy (big boned mix) by GASR *Let Me Tell You Something (Pogue Mahone mix) by The Azoic *Orange and Black (Dia del Muerte Mix) by God Module *Cluckwerk (Communal Beef Mix) by The Operative *Dark Days and Red Nights (Red Dawn Mix) by Penal Colony *Noize Junky (Loud Noises Mix) by Floppy Disk *Rain Expedition (Caustic Remix) by on 'The Rain Expedition EP' by Phantom West *Animal (In Bed Mix) by Terrorfakt *Dented Halos (Vintage Mix) by Cylab *And Some Other Dead Stuff (Caustic Mix) by Severe Illusion *Gothicke Nocturne (Eternal Mix) on 'Vampires Dance!' by The Dark Clan *Prince of E-ville (Mix by Caustic) on 'Frost EP: Sent to Destroy' by Combichrist
Balloon Song (Caustic's Static Cling Mix)
on 'If Only We Were Remixed' EP by Little Red Wolf

List of band members

Studio and live

* Matt Fanale (2002–present) -- vocals, programming, mixing

Live only

Though Caustic's studio production is essentially entirely from Fanale, when Caustic tours, other musicians often join the band for the live show. The following are some of the artists that have joined Caustic for one or more performances. * Ben Arp (of

) * Jason Hollis (of Endif) * Josev F. (of CTRLSHFT) * Maehymn (of CTRLSHFT) * sal0cin (of Empusae) * :EYG: * Charles Nelson Reilly (of

Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelist ...

, R.I.P. brother) * Darren Miller (formerly of Backandtotheleft/Noxious Emotion) * darkNES (of

The Gothsicles The Gothsicles is an American industrial and electronic body music (EBM) band formerly based out of Chicago, Illinois before moving to Boston, Massachusetts in 2018. The group was formed in Wisconsin in 2002 by Brian "darkNES" Graupner, who ha ...

) * HELLRAVER (of

Terrorfakt Terrorfakt is an industrial-power noise musical project from New York City, and created in response to the events of September 11, 2001. They are currently signed to Metropolis Records. Although the project involved multiple members in its ear ...

) * Sheena Easton and her sugar walls * Eric Eldredge (of

Interface Interface or interfacing may refer to: Academic journals * ''Interface'' (journal), by the Electrochemical Society * ''Interface, Journal of Applied Linguistics'', now merged with ''ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics'' * '' Inte ...

) * David Christian (of Cervello Elettronico) * M4RC (of Grendel) * Eric Gottesman (of Everything Goes Cold/See Colin Slash) * Dan Clark (of The Dark Clan/Null Device/Stromkern) * DEATHKEY (of DEATHKEY) * Severina X Sol (of Cylab/The Breakup/Sol Sirenn) * Thee Databomb * Edgey * Deftly-D (of Nau-Zee-auN/Zero Times Infinity/

Abstinence Abstinence is a self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol, drugs, food, etc. ...

/ HSM) * Mika G. (of This Morn' Omina- live cover only) * ffej and B.O.B. (of Sensuous Enemy) * Eric Dusik (of PTI/Breath and Decay) * skot (of Beta Virus) * Keef Baker * Clint Sand (of Synnack/formerly cut.rate.box) * Meansalley (of Servitor Sanctum 7) * Jasyn Bangert (of

God Module God Module is an American dark electronic band founded in 1999 from Orlando, Florida. Since 2006 they have been based out of Washington state. God Module is currently signed to Metropolis Records. History God Module was formed in 1999 by Jasy ...

) * Eric Oehler (of

Null Device In some operating systems, the null device is a device file that discards all data written to it but reports that the write operation succeeded. This device is called /dev/null on Unix and Unix-like systems, NUL: (see TOPS-20) or NUL on CP/M a ...

) * Emily Mills (of Little Red Wolf) * Andrew Davies (of DoublePlusTen) *

Rodney Linderman Rodney Linderman (born 21 May 1963), also known by his stage name Rodney Anonymous, is an American musician, journalist, and humorist currently based in Philadelphia. He is best known as the lead vocalist, keyboardist and co-songwriter of the ...

(of

The Dead Milkmen The Dead Milkmen is an American punk rock band formed in 1983 in Philadelphia. Their original lineup consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Rodney Linderman ("Rodney Anonymous"), guitarist and vocalist Joe Genaro ("Joe Jack Talcum"), bassist Da ...

)

References

External links

Official siteMetropolis RecordsCaustic Discography on Discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caustic Electronic music groups from Wisconsin American industrial music groups Noise musical groups Metropolis Records artists