Recording under the moniker You’ve Got Foetus on Your Breath, Jim Thirwell, aka Foetus, released his first album, Deaf, in 1981. Thirwell’s eccentric trademark sound — a confrontational sonic tapestry based on harshly recorded instruments, noises, samples, and voices — is firmly established on Deaf. The songs are twisted heaps of sound that sometimes resemble Frank Zappa outtakes being pummeled to death by Einstürzende Neubauten — and Thirwell’s scatological, antisocial lyrics only add to the bizarreness. If you’ve got the stomach for it, Deaf can be rewarding — but it’s also a great way to clear the room at a party. – Andy Hinds