Earnest young men PROSAICS' three members Andy Comer (guitar/vocals), Joshua Zucker (bass/vocals) and drummer William Kuehn were drawn by the magnetic pull of New York from their hometowns of Louisville, Madison and Baltimore respectively and they come throwing serious indie guitar shapes of the old skool variety.
And, while the taut, urgent wall of sound approach that comes oozing from their debut EP'S lead track "Teeth" intially recalls both Sonic Youth and Acetone, the more you listen to this tune and the four accompanying set pieces, the more you realise Prosaics are closet Anglophiles.
That's not meant as an insult, just an observation that compared with the likes of The Strokes and Walkmen or alternatively the !!!/ Radio 4 axis, Prosaics seem less obviously dyed in the initrinsic sound of their adopted home base. Indeed, "Teeth" is an impressive opening salvo, featuring dark, emancipated vocals from (I assume) Comer and an slightly wordy lyrical approach (how many indie guitar bands feature "ecumenical" in their lexicon?) that's by no means unattractive but still rooted in the early '80s UK scene.
Wander deeper into the EP and this impression is confirmed by tracks like "Failure" and "Crawling". The former is slightly clubfooted rhythmically, with Zucker's bass coming at you from odd, counterpoint angles (sorta like Peter Hooks meets The Meat Puppets' Cris Kirkwood if you can countenance that), while the staccato rhythms and blustery, anthemic approach of "Crawling" recalls proud, but overlooked post-punk outfits like The Sound. Actually, the track that's sandwiched between these ("Now The Shadow Of The Column") comes on like an amalgam of early Joy Division and "Jeopardy"-era Sound, with ringing guitar harmonics reminiscent of The Edge also seeping in for good measure.
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And in fairness to Prosaics, while this EP suggests they aren't yet ready for elevation to this kind of pantheon, their music isn't hopelessly dwarfed by such comparisons either. Sure, they are as yet more of en exercise in mood and attack than writers of songs that will last decades, but certainly their urgency helps them to rise above the morass. Closing track "Tenants" initially has an element of the itchily incessant rhythms Stellastarr* excel at, which suggests they can also spread their wings when they want to. And more of this kind of thing from them would be most welcome.
"Aghast Agape" is a decent opening shot from this youthful trio. Yes, they could do with an injection of catchier choruses ( remember The Sound, JD and The Bunnymen weren't averse to those despite the miserablism) and they will probably get lumped in to this ridiculous 'nu-shoegazing' bollocks that certain weeklies who should know better are trying to foist on us. But the clued-in amongst us will ignore that, won't we?
Prosaics are an intriguing new band, who - despite their name - get to the emotional core toute suite. Monitoring their progress would be the sensible option.
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