Pleasure Venom

Explosive experimental garage punk outfit Pleasure Venom of Austin, TX, explores topics of love, sex, resentment, racial injustice, and the general “absurdity of it all,” consistently blasting audiences with a firehose deluge of fierce femme-punk rock. In July of 2018, Afropunk named Pleasure Venom one of the Top 8 New Punk Bands on the Planet, and they showcased at SXSW Music Festival in spring 2019. Momentum building, the band caught the attention of Scottish powerhouse Shirley Manson of Garbage, and they joined Garbage’s US tour in early Summer 2019. With several critically acclaimed EPs and video releases under their belt, Pleasure Venom set their sights across the pond, and toured the UK while playing Loud Women Fest in London that fall. They opened for Against Me! in Austin, TX, in late December 2019. When Pleasure Venom found their SXSW and future tour dates canceled and future uncertain due to the pandemic in 2020, they focused in earnest on recording, sync licensing, interviews, and mental health. Priorities straight, the band entered 2021 with a bang, releasing “Fascist,” and “We Get What You Deserve,” the first singles from their forthcoming debut full-length Pink Pony. Their music and videos have been featured in NME, Kerrang!, Afropunk, Alt-Press, Okayafrica, and in numerous indie and local publications.

“At this point, it’s really important that we promote black artists and artists of colour in rock. It’s hard enough for anyone, but it’s insane how difficult it is for black artists and artists of colour – particularly when you want to break out of R&B and hip-hop. If you want to play punk music as a black person, then that’s the toughest road you can go. I respect it so much. That’s why it was so joyful to hear Pleasure Venom play every night on our recent US tour because they sound so fresh. It was wild, careering and chaotic and Audrey [Campbell, singer] is just amazing. She’s so unique. In this climate, everyone is so homogenised. Female artists particularly sound like one another, then you get this wild firebrand and that’s exciting.” – Shirley Manson in NME