The emo revival that has happened over the course of the last few years has been a blessing and a curse in some ways. It is blessing to the new generation of kids discovering the scene, as they are presented with a modern take on one of the great musical movements of the late 90’s, and also provides a nostalgia trip for the older generation who remember buying ‘The Emo Diaries’ compilations the first time around. It is also a curse however, because as with anything, it produces such a high number of bands catching on to it, that its hard to keep up with who is who, and what bands are actually doing it right. Thankfully Prawn fall into the former of the two categories with their fantastic sophomore full-length ‘Kingfisher’.
On this album Prawn have expanded massively on their sound, which always straddled the lines of both emo, and post-rock, to create a record that sounds accomplished, original, and nostalgic at the same time. Gone is the screaming that was minimally used in Prawn’s infancy, and some of the guitar noodling that was present in past release has been scaled down. This has all been replaced with beautiful soundscapes, driving guitar rhythms, and lush vocal harmonies that show how much the band have progressed as both musicians and songwriters in their relatively short lifespan.
The opening track ‘Scud Running’ swirls from your speakers and pulls you into the record straight away, followed up by ‘First as Tragedy, Second as Farce’ that is a straight up indie rock song and sure-fire crowd pleaser. ‘Dialect Of’ has more in common with early Death Cab For Cutie in its dynamic take on the “quiet-loud” formula, through to ‘Absurd Walls’ which is a more sombre affair with its Mid-Western emo feel. Album closer ‘Halcyon Days’ sees them move more into the post-rock element of their sound as it builds from softly picked guitar and dual harmony vocals into wall of pounding drumming and distorted guitars, back to a slow fade out to signal the end of this fantastic record.
It is no secret to say that with many albums that are released throughout this emo revival that it would be easy to find fault in them whether it is due to originality, or repetition, or even honesty perhaps. ‘Kingfisher’ avoids all such criticism. Prawn have taken a tried and tested formula create an original record that will be hard to categorise, because this is more expansive than a standard indie rock record, and so much more than “just another emo album’. A great addition to the ever-growing Topshelf Records fantastic back catalogue.
GLEN BUSHELL