Prize Horse - Under Sound

I chatted with their bassist after their set at X-Ray Arcade in Milwaukee earlier this year. I told him “I imagine you guys get this a lot, but you sound like Cloakroom”. He laughed and said yes, they do get that a lot.

This album is heavy shoegaze of the new school. Yes, there’s a lot of Cloakroom influence here, but also things that almost remind me of Alice in Chains and early Elder. Very forward vocal mixing, which sets it apart from a lot of shoegaze. The bass carries most of the grit, and the guitars are doing some interesting clean alt-tuning riffs on top of it. Very gnarly, but never too heavy. That’s a compliment. This is one of the best produced rock records I’ve heard this year.

The CD is a little plain. They could have at least added some rings or track info around the edges like the first wave of commercial CDs did in the 80s. The packaging is economical with strong art direction and a distinct color palette, which wins it back some points.

Under Sound by Prize Horse is a good album, and I like it.