punk this week: the prize, nape neck, billiam + 16 more
The return of Citric Dummies, new Cowboys, and a sick Minneapolis debut. We feast!
Welcome back to Punk This Week, see/saw’s weekly punk and rock'n'roll recommendations column. As Gonerfest approaches, punk world seems to be exploding with activity.
If you want to read about new records from the Prize, Nape Neck, the Dissidents and D.O.V.E., the Cowboys, Citric Dummies, Billiam, Be Your Own Pet, Grub Time, Twisted Teens, Norm Dogs, and Gob, it’s time to subscribe to see/saw for $4/month or $40/year. (There’s a two-week free trial, too.) That gets you this weekly column delivered to your inbox, plus bonus podcast episodes and the see/saw radio archive.
Please support this independent publication and then support some sick bands. Happy reading.
The Prize: In the Red [Goner/Anti Fade]
The state of rock’n’roll is rich with power pop. This year we got new music from the Number Ones, Sharp Pins, LÚLÚ, Gripper, Laxisme, Radioactivity, Abi Ooze, Dauber, Loose Lips, Game Set Match, the Unknowns, Polyglots, Eye Ball, Xanny Stars…I could go on. It takes a very special record in this world to stand out, and that’s exactly what the Prize has delivered with In the Red.
This is a record with undeniable hits and a layered attack that sews up every track as tightly as possible. The guitar solo on “Don’t Need ’Em” is fucking stunning, and then the all-muscle Thin Lizzy-ass chug of “From the Night” gallops forward. It’s the kind of record with such sharp and exceptional hook writing, it doesn’t feel like they could possibly keep up the consistency from the first half of the album across the entire album. Reader, they do.
