Thursday, July 23, 2009
By John Benson
Performing for the past two years, New Jersey band Prawn casts a wide net with its indie-experimental music style.
“The type of music we play kind of varies,” said guitarist Andrew Vilchez, calling from his Ridgewood, N.J., home. “We like to think of us as indie, experimental and sometimes a little bit post-rock. We have a wide variety of different sounds. It’s pretty eclectic. I guess because we live in New Jersey the big scene here is kind of pop-punk, and we kind of stray away from that and try different things. We have a lot of instrumental aspects in our songs. We just don’t focus on vocals.
“We get a lot of comments about sounding like Modest Mouse, Minus the Bear and a few times Explosions in the Sky. We’ve been alright with all of the comparisons. They’re all good compliments.”
So far, the quartet has two EPs under its belt. This includes its seven-track debut, “Basement Tapes,” which was released last year, as well as the brand-new five-track “False Institutions.” Vilchez said he’s already seeing songwriting maturation on the recent material.
“I’d say the track ‘Courage Kills Men’ is one of my favorite tracks,” Vilchez said. “I think it shows our part-indie and part-experimental sound. And it also shows our instrumental side, a lot of which I like to focus on. And we have these different style breakdowns that are very well-incorporated in the songs.
“Another song that’s different is ‘Artic Foxes.’ Out of all of them, I’d say that’s more maybe our punkish type song. It shows a more fun, exciting side with chanting vocals.”
After mounting a small tour earlier this year, Prawn is about to undertake its biggest outing yet with a three-week jaunt through the Midwest, which includes a Friday gig at Barley’s. This marks the band’s Youngstown debut, with Vilchez optimistic about adding Northeast Ohioans into the group’s fan base.
“I think we’ve done pretty well to a wide variety of kids who are into different types of music, from pop-punk to metal,” Vilchez said. “We played at a Senses Fail show and played with all of these screamo-type bands, and everyone loved us. It just seems like we’ve been accepted pretty widely. So anyone in Youngstown who just likes music will enjoy our show. We’re really excited to be out there and play.”