There’s a very specific kind of guilt that comes with running a deep-dive format show when a brand-new record drops from an artist you care about.
I’m writing this on February 6th — release day — immediately after my first real sit-down listen to Normal Isn’t. Headphones on. No distractions. No multitasking. Just the record.
And my first thought when it ended was simple:
I should’ve blown up the schedule.
Historically, that’s exactly what I would’ve done. A release like this would’ve gone straight onto the air the following week — reaction first, processing later.
But Rolling with Scissors doesn’t move like that anymore.
Now that the show lives fully in album deep-dive territory — long-form listening, intentional pacing, and carefully built headspaces — you can’t just rip holes in the calendar every time something exciting drops. Episodes have structure. Emotional flow matters. The arc of the show matters.
So instead of forcing the record into the schedule half-digested, I let it breathe.
We moved this episode to the beginning of next month.
And honestly, that delay made the episode better.
Because Normal Isn’t isn’t a one-listen record. It unfolds slowly, deliberately, revealing details over time rather than demanding instant reaction.
What Puscifer Actually Is
Explaining Puscifer to someone expecting a traditional band is always tricky.
Puscifer operates more like performance art disguised as a music project — satire, social commentary, electronic minimalism, desert psychedelia, and dry humor all coexisting in the same space. It observes human behavior almost clinically while still feeling strangely personal.
Where some projects feel ritualistic or cathartic, Puscifer thrives in ambiguity. It lives in the uncomfortable space between sincerity and parody — and that tension is exactly what makes it compelling.
The Delivery — A Familiar Ghost
Throughout Normal Isn’t, one comparison kept surfacing in my head: Depeche Mode.
Not because the record copies that sound, but because of the vocal patience. Lines aren’t rushed — they’re placed. A phrase lands, hangs in the air, then the next arrives. The space between words becomes part of the music itself.
Minimal structure. Maximum atmosphere.
Whether intentional or purely interpretive, that sense of restraint gives the record room to breathe — and rewards listeners willing to sit inside it.
Why This Episode Exists the Way It Does
If this were the old format, the album would’ve aired immediately in full.
But deep dives change how programming works. When episodes are built as immersive environments instead of disconnected sets, pacing becomes everything. Some installments push hard emotionally; others reset the room.
This episode became that reset point — a palate cleanser that still cuts deep.
The new record forms the nucleus, but the show expands outward into earlier material, alternate versions, and sonic detours that reveal how wide the Puscifer spectrum really runs. The project has never been linear, and presenting it that way would miss the point.
Why Shows Like This Exist on WORT
This is also a perfect example of why community radio matters.
WORT Community Radio gives shows like Rolling with Scissors the freedom to explore artists and projects that simply wouldn’t survive inside commercial radio formatting. A deep dive into Puscifer — an artist that doesn’t fit neatly into genre boxes or playlist algorithms — is exactly the kind of programming listener-supported radio makes possible.
A couple times each year, we come directly to our listeners and ask for support so this kind of creative freedom can continue. This is one of those moments.
If you value long-form listening, deep musical exploration, and radio that still takes risks, please consider supporting WORT at:
Listener support is what allows episodes like this to exist at all.
Living With the Record
The real advantage of waiting a few weeks before airing this episode was time — time for production details to surface, for pacing to settle, and for the record to reveal itself beyond release-day expectations.
The longer I lived with Normal Isn’t, the clearer its identity became.
This episode uses the new material as an entry point, then widens the lens to show the full dimensionality of the project — the mutations, remixes, characters, and tonal shifts that define Puscifer’s DNA.
Because if one project feels like the sermon, and another feels like the confession, Puscifer is the strange neon-lit afterparty where the real conversations happen.
And right here in the schedule, that’s exactly the reset the show needed.
Hour 1
Artist – Song – Time – Album – Label – Year
Puscifer – Thrust [Explicit] – 05:15 – Normal Isn’t [Explicit] – Puscifer Entertainment – 2026 – new release
Puscifer – Normal Isn’t – 04:45 – Normal Isn’t [Explicit] – Puscifer Entertainment – 2026 – new release
Puscifer – Bad Wolf – 04:51 – Normal Isn’t [Explicit] – Puscifer Entertainment – 2026 – new release
Puscifer – Self Evident – 04:01 – Normal Isn’t [Explicit] – Puscifer Entertainment – 2026 – new release
Puscifer – A Public Stoning [Explicit] – 06:25 – Normal Isn’t [Explicit] – Puscifer Entertainment – 2026 – new release
Puscifer – The Quiet Parts – 04:49 – Normal Isn’t [Explicit] – Puscifer Entertainment – 2026 – new release
Puscifer – Mantastic – 04:28 – Normal Isn’t [Explicit] – Puscifer Entertainment – 2026 – new release
Puscifer – Pendulum – 05:16 – Normal Isn’t [Explicit] – Puscifer Entertainment – 2026 – new release
Puscifer – ImpetuoUs – 05:20 – Normal Isn’t [Explicit] – Puscifer Entertainment – 2026 – new release
Puscifer – Seven One – 05:35 – Normal Isn’t [Explicit] – Puscifer Entertainment – 2026 – new release
Puscifer – The Algorithm (Sessanta Live Mix) – 04:15 – Normal Isn’t [Explicit] – Puscifer Entertainment – 2026 – new release
Hour 2
Artist – Song – Time – Album – Label – Year
Puscifer – Bread And Circus – 06:28 – Existential Reckoning – Puscifer Entertainment – 2020
Puscifer – Apocalyptical – 05:22 – Existential Reckoning – Puscifer Entertainment – 2020
Puscifer – The Underwhelming – 05:04 – Existential Reckoning – Puscifer Entertainment – 2020
Puscifer – Grey Area – 03:58 – Existential Reckoning – Puscifer Entertainment – 2020
Puscifer – Theorem – 05:04 – Existential Reckoning – Puscifer Entertainment – 2020
Puscifer – UPGrade – 04:53 – Existential Reckoning – Puscifer Entertainment – 2020
Puscifer – Bullet Train To Iowa – 05:05 – Existential Reckoning – Puscifer Entertainment – 2020
Puscifer – Personal Prometheus – 07:25 – Existential Reckoning – Puscifer Entertainment – 2020
Puscifer – A Singularity – 05:30 – Existential Reckoning – Puscifer Entertainment – 2020
Puscifer – Postulous – 03:41 – Existential Reckoning – Puscifer Entertainment – 2020
Puscifer – Fake Affront – 03:28 – Existential Reckoning – Puscifer Entertainment – 2020
Puscifer – Bedlamite – 04:50 – Existential Reckoning – Puscifer Entertainment – 2020
Hour 3
Artist – Song – Time – Album – Label – Year
Puscifer – Tiny Monsters – 04:44 – Conditions of My Parole – Puscifer Entertainment – 2011
Puscifer – Green Valley – 03:54 – Conditions of My Parole – Puscifer Entertainment – 2011
Puscifer – Monsoons – 04:17 – Conditions of My Parole – Puscifer Entertainment – 2011
Puscifer – Telling Ghosts – 04:49 – Conditions of My Parole – Puscifer Entertainment – 2011
Puscifer – Horizons – 03:29 – Conditions of My Parole – Puscifer Entertainment – 2011
Puscifer – Man Overboard – 04:18 – Conditions of My Parole – Puscifer Entertainment – 2011
Puscifer – Toma – 03:39 – Conditions of My Parole – Puscifer Entertainment – 2011
Puscifer – The Rapture (Fear Is a Mind Killa Mix) – 06:13 – Conditions of My Parole – Puscifer Entertainment – 2011
Puscifer – Conditions of My Parole – 02:54 – Conditions of My Parole – Puscifer Entertainment – 2011
Puscifer – The Weaver – 04:40 – Conditions of My Parole – Puscifer Entertainment – 2011
Puscifer – Oceans – 03:42 – Conditions of My Parole – Puscifer Entertainment – 2011
Puscifer – Tumbleweed – 04:15 – Conditions of My Parole – Puscifer Entertainment – 2011
Puscifer – Sour Grapes “Where’s The Line? Mix” – 07:27 – Sound Into Blood Into Wine – Puscifer Entertainment – 2010
Puscifer – Momma Sed “V Is 4 V Mix” – 03:24 – Sound Into Blood Into Wine – Puscifer Entertainment – 2010
Puscifer – Queen B “V Is 4 V Mix” – 03:52 – Sound Into Blood Into Wine – Puscifer Entertainment – 2010
Puscifer – The Undertaker “V Is 4 V Mix” – 03:56 – Sound Into Blood Into Wine – Puscifer Entertainment – 2010
Puscifer – Drunk With Power “V Is 4 V Mix” – 05:00 – Sound Into Blood Into Wine – Puscifer Entertainment – 2010
Puscifer – Rev 22:20 “Dry Martini Mix” – 05:04 – Sound Into Blood Into Wine – Puscifer Entertainment – 2010
Puscifer – Indigo Children “V Is 4 V Mix” – 06:20 – Sound Into Blood Into Wine – Puscifer Entertainment – 2010
Puscifer – The Mission “M Is for Milla Mix” – 03:44 – Sound Into Blood Into Wine – Puscifer Entertainment – 2010
Puscifer – The Humbling River “Nagual del Judith Mix” – 04:55 – Sound Into Blood Into Wine – Puscifer Entertainment – 2010
Puscifer – World Up My Ass “7 Inch Mix” – 02:41 – Sound Into Blood Into Wine – Puscifer Entertainment – 2010
Puscifer – Sour Grapes “Legend of the Mix” – 04:16 – Sound Into Blood Into Wine – Puscifer Entertainment – 2010
Puscifer – The Humbling River “Duet Mix” – 05:06 – Sound Into Blood Into Wine – Puscifer Entertainment – 2010 [fade out]
Rolling with Scissors airs live every Tuesday from 2–5 AM on 89.9 FM in Madison and streams at wortfm.org. Missed it? You can catch the episode for two weeks after broadcast at archive.wortfm.org or at rwsradio.com.
While the audio disappears after two weeks, the episode notes and playlists don’t. Every deep dive, rant, and full album breakdown stays right here — so you can revisit the details any time.
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