ALBUM REVIEW: Prang – Gender Roles

As the outlook for DIY bands continues to look more volatile by the day, Brighton’s GENDER ROLES are living proof of the greatness that can be birthed in your local pub. Just four years since their inception, and the coastal three piece already appear to have come of age with their debut full length record Prang.

Having the ability to recreate the same sense of unity you share in your beer soaked local into an album is a fine art, and it’s one that GENDER ROLES appear to have cracked here. Prang masquerades as a flamboyant tick box for almost everything you could hope for from a DIY band once they’re put on tape. This sounds as industrial as it does quirky – and Prang takes advantage of the groundswell of bands that have roughed up their production value and found instantaneous success as a result.

Tracks like Deep End have a rustic reverb of sound which has little polish, but overflows in character – and the same can be said for the record in general. But most charming about Prang of all is how it takes its indie thump and mixes it with an industrial punk pace which makes for an end product stacked with anthemic swings of pace.

Ickie mimics moments of THE WHITE STRIPES while You Look Like Death is JAMIE T meets MILK TEETH, and somehow within this chasm of influences, GENDER ROLES have created a zenith of sound that is consistently free flowing. Even slower, more sombre affairs like If This Is Your War are still infectious in their chorus hooks, with vocalist/guitarist Tom Bennett flickering in and out of a dexterous performance of rhythmic vitriol.

It’s almost difficult to pick out where the trio sound most infectious throughout Prang. Their ability to throw out boisterous backdrops for the likes of Tip Of My Tongue is borderline insatiable, while the massive choruses that burn through the record are equally unstoppable. This is an album that is astonishingly well refined for a band in GENDER ROLES position.

You probably didn’t need any extra convincing that underground/DIY music was the lifeblood of alternative culture, but if you did – Prang will be your ‘light bulb’ moment. This is an indie record that would sound as suited to 1999 as it does today, meant in the most complimentary way possible. GENDER ROLES have punched absurdly above their weight with an album of this quality – your album of the summer is here.

Rating: 8/10

Prang is set for release August 30th via Big Scary Monsters.

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