New album offers a heavier sound and quality songs
By Scott Iwasaki
Deseret Morning News

The word "orgy" has many connotations. Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines orgy as "secret ceremonial rites held in honor of ancient Roman or Greek deity, usually characterized by ecstatic singing and dancing . . . a drunken revelry . . . a sexual encounter involving many people . . . something that resembles a lack of control or moderation"
I'd like to add another definition: a rock band.

Vocalist Jay Gordon, bassist Paige Haley, guitarist Ryan Shuck and synthesizerist Amier Derakh are collectively known to the world as Orgy. Fans define the music as "death-pop," which is mix of hard chunky guitars and dance-friendly beats — songs perfect for brooding nightclubs.

Orgy hit minor success with a remake of New Order's "Blue Monday," which was included on the band's 1998 debut. The group then embarked on the "Family Values Tour" with Korn, which only expanded its audience.

Gordon and the boys have just released a new album, "Punk Statik Paranoia," which finds the group with an even heavier sound.

I caught up with Gordon and talked with him by phone from Los Angeles about the recording of the album. "The only real challenge in making the album was knowing when to stop," he said. "We had a ton of new songs and didn't know when we needed to pull the plug. But we had some help, my dad included, who told us it was time to put the microphone down."

One reason the band kept recording and re-recording was because the album had no official release date. "We just wanted to record all the songs we had, and that's how we did it," said Gordon. "The idea was to expand Orgy's sound. I've been writing for this album for some time, and had all these things in my head. So it seemed to me that it would be a natural step for the band to get a little harder."

Another reason for the long recording sessions was Gordon's obsessive behavior. "We'd finally finish a song the band was happy with and I'd be like, 'Hey, are you sure there's nothing else?' I'm a total neurotic perfectionist."

That attribute paid off. "Punk Statik Paranoia" is arguably Orgy's best-sounding album. Kicking off with "Beautiful Disgrace" and ending with the exclamatory "I Can't Take This," it's evident that Orgy wants to get in touch with its heavier side. Fittingly, the album's single, "The Obvious," is the most accessible song on the album.

"We didn't have a criteria of what kinds of songs we were going to put on the album," said Gordon. "There wasn't a theme or anything like that. We just recorded the songs we felt sounded good."

However, Gordon said, fans of the original Orgy sound will not be disappointed. "There's still the big wall of sound. And we still have that groove. But I'd like to see what will happen to us in the future."