ALBUM REVIEW: PRUDE – Drug Church

DRUG CHURCH might be somewhat of a household name to those that have been acutely tuned into post-hardcore over the last decade and change, but they are a band that has seen a massive influx of attention in the years following the release of their critically acclaimed third album Cheer. Since then, the band have released yet another critically acclaimed record with 2022’s Hygiene, touring the both the USA and Europe extensively before and since. Recent years have turned a lot of heads towards the band – attention that they have used wisely, capitalising on it with yet another new record – PRUDE.

Thankfully, it’s business as usual for DRUG CHURCH with this release, which is yet another fantastic link in their continued chain of success.

At the heart of PRUDE is it’s storytelling. The narrative elements that run through the half-hour of this album add much stock to the already brilliant post-hardcore that DRUG CHURCH have put together on this release. While these might be better experienced than described here, one highlight comes from the frankly excellent story/fable behind Business Ethics. This track recounts a plot by (assumedly, but perhaps not realistically) vocalist Patrick Kindlon’s cousin to stage a fake kidnapping of himself to guilt money out of his mother to buy more “ice”, inspiring the vocalist to try the same scheme to get from work and recounting this with the anti-work refrains of “Kidnap yourself, you’re the hostage here”. It’s a grimly comic story, and it’s but one example in the wide berth of subjects that DRUG CHURCH lay out quite plainly on PRUDE in their trademark energetic way.

The magic trick with PRUDE (and indeed much of their back catalogue) is that it goes as deep as you want it to. Kindlon doesn’t hide his sense of existential humour (see Demolition Man) or harrowing stories (see Hey Listen) behind metaphor overly descriptive language – instead it’s so surface-level to be easily accessible and relatable. And if lyrics about botched liquor store robberies or missing children aren’t your thing, it’s just as well that the songs themselves are some of the best of their career thus far.

To list the tracks that stand out on this record would be to show you the track-listing – there’s no moment where this 10-track blast of an album loses steam. Pre-release tracks like Myopic and Chow are the obvious showcases for what they’ve done with PRUDE, but there’s easily as much to love with the massive Yankee Trails and the aforementioned Slide 2 Me.

DRUG CHURCH aren’t averse to tackling topics like existentialism, violence, and alienation on PRUDE, while all the time doubling down on their previously established style in new and brilliantly entertaining ways. It almost feels strange to call PRUDE a meticulously crafted release considering the innate rawness of their core sound, but DRUG CHURCH have made a no-skip record that feels thoughtful and real, using storytelling to convey their thoughts on life’s more complicated matters. That being said, PRUDE is nothing if not fun. These tracks feel purpose built for the live environment, and having these tracks as an arrow in their quiver for touring going forward will no doubt have them continue their upwards trajectory.

Rating: 9/10

PRUDE is set for release on October 4th via Pure Noise Records. 

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