The Prigs
New York City, New York, United States
Music
Press
THE PRIGS
FROM: Brooklyn, NY
MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/theprigs
Unsigned
Manic, twisting, dancy stuff from a band that must love the TALKING HEADS. Spend some time on their Myspace page, it's worth it if you like jerky grooves. A true collective, as you may already know some Prigs as members of other bands such as St. Vincent, Via Audio, Tiger City, Kaki King, Elizabeth and the Catapult, and Old Springs Pike. Together they combine for a sound that is unique, vocally reminiscent of THE HOLD STEADY, musically they list Huey Lewis as an influence. - Future Sounds http://www.futuresounds.blogspot.com
It’s not like I was expecting a bad show.
If anything, The Prigs are one of the more fun and original bands I’ve come across on OurStage, with a Pogues-meets-Men-At-Work combination of raw, horn-laden punk/pop.
But remember that band you liked in college? Your friend’s band that made loud music, wrote songs about cereal, and dressed up in superhero outfits? Do you remember how you felt about going to their shows? You looked forward to it because you knew you’d have a good time. And the music? Well that was just bonus.
That’s kind of how I felt heading to the Prigs show.
Everything I encountered at T.T. the Bear’s Place validated those expectations. The muffled sound system, the opening band blasting generic funk riffs, the complete lack of carbonation in my small plastic cup of High Life. This was going to be fun.
Of course, I was wrong.
Not about the fun. The Prigs were plenty of fun. The lead singer, sporting camouflage shorts and soccer socks, danced and screamed with the abandon of a 12-year-old. The keyboardist wore a blonde wig and rocked a glorious white keytar. At one point, the bassist abandoned his own instrument to play the guitar still strapped to the lead singer. And so forth. But as the show went on, it became clear these guys weren’t just a bar band. The lead singer was actually a really good guitarist, making rapid and complex chord changes with ease. The keyboardist and two saxophonists plowed through scales with surprising dexterity. The drummer and bassist were admirably precise, holding together what should have been a train wreck.
And the more I listened, the more I realized The Prigs are not your college friend’s band. Underneath the wigs and headbands reside a group of talented musicians who just happen to be looking for a good time. And though I hesitate to describe The Prigs as subtle, their songs were unpretentiously complex. Every drunkenly chanted chorus was matched by blistering horn riff, well placed harmony, or time signature I couldn’t figure out for my life.
So, with the baffled amusement of a baseball fan who showed up to a little-league game to find out the actual Yankees and Red Sox were playing, I raised my small plastic cup of flat High Life in the air. This was more than I expected or required. Looking for a good time, I stumbled upon a band worth telling the world about.
As the chorus of their song “TV Reporter” reminded me, “Life ain’t so bad at all.” - Quinn Strassel http://blog.ourstage.com/2008/06/
The Prigs performed on Fox's Fearless Music Program and won the weekly poll thus performing again on national television the following Fri 10/18/08
A video of the performance is available on our myspace
http://www.myspace.com/theprigs
or here
http://www.fearlessmusic.com/video/gallery/The-Prigs-Laundry-Day
- Fearless Music.com
May I please direct your attention to The Prigs, the least pretentious, most funnest ever band in New York? I finally caught them on Halloween at Rockwood Music Hall, and can tell you firsthand that they put on an awesome show. Go see them sometime at Rockwood, and if you don't jump up and down with feverish delight, I'll personally refund the price of admission. (Okay admission is free, but I seriously guarantee you'll have a blast, if not several blasts.)
Here is their myspace page, where you can listen to songs with lyrics like "It's party time with an evil magic genie bartender". - Moxie the Maven http://www.moxiethemaven.com
Discography
EP- "Bridge Fresh" 2009
EP- "Health Sunday United" 2008
Photos
Bio
The pride of Brooklyn and unabashed purveyors of prog-80s, lighter-waving, power rock, The Prigs have created a world of unbridled fun. Close your eyes at a Prigs show and you might find yourself visualizing images of the E Street Band brawling with the cast of Full House after a night of heavy drinking. But with eyes wide open, you’ll feel like you’re watching a Mardi Gras float detonate in a 9-piece sonic assault. Like any auditory fractal, there is real order in The Prigs’ chaos– these consummate players leave nothing to chance.
Born of songs composed by singer/guitarist Mack Price (Kaki King), the Prigs’ triangle was stabilized by the addition of bass player Bill Flynn and saxophonist Evan Smith (both of St. Vincent). The band went through trio, quartet and quintet incarnations, but found that the bigger it got, the better it sounded. Today, an elite team of nine specialists (The Prigs council) leads a wily cast of characters (diaspora Prigs) in songs featuring overpowering instrumentation, tight, almost prog- inspired arrangements, and a new lyrical sound.
While one can chart a course through the band’s many disparate influences -- olde time Irish jigs, Balkan reels, The Who, Huey Lewis – what shines through to their audiences is their core message of celebration and joy. As the refrain to one of The Prigs’ future hits asserts, “Life ain’t so bad at all!”
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