Puscifer

Midwest-raised vocalist and songwriter Maynard James Keenan channels personal material through Puscifer whenever he steps away from fronting Tool and A Perfect Circle. The outlet accommodates introspective and occasionally irreverent reflections that fall outside those bands’ established approaches, producing a signature blend of contemplative passages and juvenile wit reflected in release titles such as the 2007 debut V Is for Vagina, 2013’s Donkey Punch the Night, and 2015’s Money $hot. World circumstances prompted a more earnest tone for the fourth album, Existential Reckoning, issued in 2020.

Although commitments to Tool and A Perfect Circle already demanded substantial attention, Keenan launched Puscifer in 2007. He characterized the endeavor as “the space where my Id, Ego, and Anima all come together to exchange cookie recipes.” The name first surfaced in 1995 when Keenan portrayed the frontman of a fictional group on an episode of the HBO sketch series Mr. Show. Actual recording under the Puscifer banner began in 2003 with the track “Rev 22:20,” created alongside Danny Lohner for the Underworld soundtrack. Four years later he assembled a full-length project, treating Puscifer as a flexible collective rather than a conventional rock band. Early sessions drew on an extensive roster that included Tim Alexander of Primus, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk from Audioslave and Rage Against the Machine, former King Crimson member Trey Gunn, violinist Lisa Germano, pop songwriter Jonny Polonsky, and vocalist Milla Jovovich.

The first official Puscifer release appeared in October 2007: the A-side “Cuntry Boner,” originally performed by the short-lived punk outfit Electric Sheep that once featured Adam Jones and Tom Morello, backed by a cover of the Circle Jerks’ “World Up My Ass.” Later that month the debut album V Is for Vagina arrived on Keenan’s own Puscifer label, containing ten original compositions built primarily around measured yet forceful dance rhythms instead of Tool’s progressive-metal textures. Although immediate touring was not planned, Keenan worked with filmmakers on short films inspired by the songs for potential live presentation. April 2008 brought the remix collection V Is for Viagra: The Remixes, which incorporated reworkings by members of Nine Inch Nails, Telefon Tel Aviv, Ministry, Slipknot, and additional contributors.

The following year Keenan issued the EP “C” Is For (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference Here), then delivered the full-length Conditions of My Parole in 2011. Donkey Punch the Night followed in 2013, pairing new material with covers of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Accept’s “Balls to the Wall.” The third studio album, Money $hot, appeared in 2015 and featured the single “Grand Canyon”; its companion remix set, Money $hot Your Re-Load, arrived the next year. Toward the decade’s end Keenan reactivated A Perfect Circle and Tool, occupying him into the 2020s.

In 2020 Keenan, longtime associate Carina Round, and Mat Mitchell released Existential Reckoning. The album adopted a comparatively restrained demeanor with reduced humor, addressing American conditions amid pandemic and political upheaval, as heard on the singles “Apocalyptical” and “The Underwhelming.” It reached number seven on Billboard’s Top Alternative Albums chart. A live document, Existential Reckoning: Live at Arcosanti, followed in 2021. The 2023 set Existential Reckoning: Re-Wired presented reworked versions of album tracks featuring contributions from Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Phantogram, Tool’s Justin Chancellor, the Crystal Method’s Scott Kirkland, and others. In 2024 the band issued Global Probing, a live album captured at the final show of the Existential Reckoning tour and previously available as a concert film. The same year saw the three-song Sessanta E.P.P.P., containing one new track each from Puscifer, A Perfect Circle, and Primus, previewing the Sessanta tour that celebrated Keenan’s 60th birthday and extended the spirit of his 2014 Cinquanta event marking his 50th birthday. The Cinquanta performance, which featured Puscifer alongside A Perfect Circle and Failure, was also released as a live album.