Prison Affair Demo IV EP
Out with their fourth demo, Barcelona’s egg-punk trio PRISON AFFAIR brings more guitar squabbling, drum-kit-as-drum-machine precision, picked-apart bass, and heavily distorted vocals to our crumb-laden, sticky table. The whole thing sounds like a mouth harp run through a ratty amp: elastic, frenetic, completely hairbrained. The guitar tone/effects are wild, sounding more synth than six-string with riffs that rarely quit and that stay in the sweet spot on the neck, maybe between the seventh and fourteenth fret—like a fucked-up MINUTEMEN jam. And I must say, I’m glad the penis-nosed band mascot is shadowed-out and behind bars. I’m sorry, the cartoon penis and butthole imagery from earlier releases just puts me off. I guess that’s the point? Watching their Audiotree live recording did give me a better impression of the band, as cartoon genitalia floated from my mind, to witness three grown men in full mission stance, sincere in their effort to bring us whatever this music may be. Will we get something that’s not a demo soon? Or is the joke on us? All said, they’ve won me over.