prosaics?

i talked a lot about them on this thread:

bands to see in NYC?

debut EP is tremendous. new songs even better. they should be signed very soon.

one drummer from Rainer Maria + one NYC-scene gadfly/DJ + one member of TeenBeat synthpoppers Tel Aviv = Prosaics.

Smart angular aggressive punk a-la Josef K but without the funk and subtlety, but with as much or more fashion sense.

Very tight, haven't heard them in a while though.

they are totally really great at looking good & being an average of all the music they like. tight and boring from what I've seen...

A gadfly? Wow. I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
-and being great at looking good, yet being boring I don't know. seems like there are alot of haters out there - which means that they'll probably end up being huge. that seems to be the key to success these days.

A persistent irritating critic; a nuisance.

One that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad.

I guess I misuse that term a lot. Definately not the first, Joshua is one of the nicer people I've met on the nyc "scene". I just mean he was involved with a lot of stuff, I think he worked at Other for a spell? Used to DJ Malaria! and Fire Engines records at Brownies between bands, had a party sunday nights at Black and White, I think was involved in an electronic music label? I think he even was almost in the Rapture at some point.

Uh oh. A nice guy. Maybe they won't make it after all. everyone hates on interpol and they're huge - but they aren't known for being the nicest chaps on the nyc scene. or are they?
what is up with the "scene" anyways? anyone have anything worth mentioning?

in a few short responses how they look, how they sound, what bands they used to be in, and how nice they are have been discussed. What else are you looking for?

People hate on Interpol before they were huge, so I'd say the source of only a portion of the people who hate on Interpol can be attributed to their popularity.

I like their buttons.

this doesn't do much for me. i've read yanc3y's thoughts, and the pitchfork review and am trying to find the middleground, but there isn't very much here (here being the EP) to work with.

the lyrics are terrible, and the music sounds cold. unlike that interpol record where at least the production gave it considerable personality, this sounds so polished that it's devoid of personality.

i don't even know what i'm hearing with the ep anymore, blackmail, cuz i've heard it so much. they are great live, and the new material is fantastic.

i wish the song titles didn't telegraph so much meaning. the artwork and the lyrics communicate the sort of "i'm an artist" malaise one associates with undergraduate drama departments across the country.

I saw them open for the Fiery Furnaces and thought that they were really, really, really boring. Their name is pretty accurate.

xpost: if there's one thing that pitchfork review really nailed, it's the matador signing and its influence on criticism. they don't sound anything like interpol, but they can't help but be lumped in with them now - it's so easy. they're a poised bunch who satisfy the well-dressed dancerock template that's been greenlighted by the masses, or at least by the labels who feel it will get play with them.

the pitchfork review nailed that or perpetuated that??? did you read what the prosaics said on my blog?

and matthew, you are bonkers. the prosaics were great that night; i walked out on fiery furnaces. i guess this comes down to taste, i suppose.

Yeah, I'm pretty partial to catchy bands.

xpost - i think the pitchfork review did both. at the epicenter the quake is strongest, out here in the provinces (philly) the aftershocks are a little weak. not having seen them live has evident implications for how one hears their EP. maybe if they toured before Matador made their announcement?

they did tour with the yeah yeah yeahs and liars last year

we must be the only three people who've heard them, plus the guy on pfork.

obvs xpost.

no, trust me that the industry side was hella into them. a pretty serious bidding war for their services. i actually think that, by the time it's all said and done, they will end up the biggest of the ny crop (up there with the yeah yeah yeahs, at least).

but even if that's true, it still doesn't say anything meaningful about the EP. that they might be a tremendous hit is adjunct to their critical evaluation, don't you think?

well of course it is. when i first heard the ep -- a year ago, i guess -- i was impressed with it, primarily cuz they were, in my mind, MY band in a way. ya know what i mean? but when i listen to it now, it doesn't do much for me at all. it simply adds to the clutter (certainly their patience in finding a deal -- almost two years in the making -- damned them to some respect; see also: moving units). but when the album drops on matador in january or february (i think that's right), the buzz will really start to build. my fave track of theirs sounds like a post-punk "don't fear the reaper." you can't fuck with that!

Do you think that they have any "hits" in them? Anything that can be played on commercial stations a la "Slow Hands" or "Maps"?

did you miss the part about "a post-punk 'don't fear the reaper'"?!?!?

but seriously, matthew, yes I do. certainly the vocals could be problematic, but the biggest leap they've made is learning how to write songs around andy's voice; how to make it not scratchy or abrasive but a sound that feels natural coming from their din. hits are there. a couple of big ones, if they are recorded the way that they should.

this is not yet a fully formed band. believe it or not, bands don't emerge from the womb self-realized. with the prosaics, i've been lucky enough to watch them mutate and grow. for a while i was unhappy with the ways that they were maturing (i like my bands with a lil bit of dust on em), but the changes are really starting to come to fruition. i don't even think they feel that much attachment/ownership of that ep anymore cuz it was recorded so long ago. (now joshua will chime in here to tell me that they feel total attachment to it, of course.)

i'm not here to proclaim them my fave nyc band or anything like that, but it's a mistake to judge them from that one ep (and i still maintain that had it come out soon after it was recorded, it would've been much better received).

i dig the EP quite a bit, it keeps me interested from start to finish despite being not particuarly groundbreaking. i think the short length and the sequencing (i.e. "now the shadow of the column" in the middle) help the cause.

very curious to hear the full-length, though if it retreads the same ground as the EP i would be disappointed.

they broke up.

really? wow.

lol

I guess that SHITTY EP I have on VINL will be RARE in a few YEARS.