Hard rocker Keenan enlists "hungry" musicians

By Jeff Vrabel

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The most recent video from hard rocker Maynard James Keenan finds him onstage in an Oak Ridge Boys outfit and fairly alarming hairpiece, singing a twangy number about sleeping with what is more or less a complete roster of country-music icons.

Such is the enigmatic, shapeless-by-design nature of Puscifer, the side project from the enigmatic, shapeless-by-design Keenan, better known for his moody turns at the helm of the bands Tool and A Perfect Circle.

Puscifer's debut, "V is for Vagina," was released on its own Puscifer Entertainment label and debuted this week at No. 25 on the Billboard 200. It sold 27,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"As you can imagine, there were many obstacles in the physical distribution of a record with the title 'V is for Vagina,"' says Jaclyn Bertsch, a marketing executive who helped get the album into stores.

According to Keenan, the band comprises a rotating cast of "bubbling-under musicians who are hungry and kind of exist on their own," like multi-instrumentalist Danny Lohner, singer Lisa Germano, Telefon Tel Aviv's Joshua Eustin, Jonny Polonksy, actress Milla Jovovich and Primus' Tim Alexander.

Puscifer is decidedly more upbeat than Keenan's other bands and is often a groovy, beat-heavy departure. And although Keenan was heavily involved in the production and marketing for the project, his plans for the future of the group are hazy.

"The most difficult thing for people to get their heads around is that when I put out a song like 'C--try Boner' or do a video for 'Queen B,' that might be it," he says. "I might go on tour in two years or maybe not at all. Maybe this is it. Maybe I'm just gonna start making hats."

If the group does take the stage, expect something akin to a "'Mr. Show'-meets-Tom Waits sort of a cabaret," Keenan says. "Say we do San Francisco, Chicago and Atlanta -- one week in each of those places -- and film each night using different musicians. Then we could somehow tie it in with some kind of digital site or pay-per-view -- just something unique."

Reuters/Billboard