Friday 30 March 2012

Prefab Messiahs Of Then Or Now?


I have focused on bands with iconic sounds (Lee Ranaldo, OFF!) or who ape them (Zulu). Im not sure what these guys The Prefab Messiahs fall into. They were a Massachusetts band that were kicking about in the early 1980s, hopped up on crazy juice and infusing post-punk, left-field garage/psych/pop, and general art damage with heady bumps of WTF. They have released an archival record of sorts this month called Peace, Love & Alienation (out on Gary War's Fixed Identity label - Kris from PM has been one of War's live band members), which coincides with an interview the band did on WFMU's Beware Of The Blog - check it out here.

How to describe Peace, Love & Alienation? Well it isn't too far from the twisted and frenetic mind of John Dwyer (Thee Oh Sees) actually. Tinny atmospherics add credence to the psychobohemia present in tracks such as 'Beyond All That' and 'The 16th Song', whilst their is some slacker humour in 'Cousin Artie' and 'Don't Go To The Party'. It's pretty much what we are hearing now then, yet 30 years in the past.


Grab Peace Love & Alienation here.

Prefab Messiahs - Desperately Happy
Prefab Messiahs - The 16th Song

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