Prizzy Prizzy Please: Chroma Cannon

Prizzy Prizzy Please are a hard band to categorise. Although they possess a punk like zeal and some up tempo messy melodic workouts, what sets them apart is their lack of guitars and the inclusion of alto saxophone. What this creates is a bass and keyboard led sound that is interspersed with the vocal yelps and sax breaks of Mark Pallman. Lyrically PPP also take on unusual topics such as time travelling warnings about the Hadron Collider, the voyage of a plastic bag round the Pacific Garbage Patch and new shoes. Whilst the intention that all this quirky fusion of styles and thoughts is meant to lead to funked up punked up craziness, all too often the overriding feeling is that this is close to the sound of The Hives, but minus the self depreciating humour that adds to that band's appeal.

Pallman is a talented saxophonist, however more often than not his parps and squeals are squeezed unnecessarily into songs that really don't benefit from his contributions, however vocally he stars throughout. The lack of guitars rarely is noticeable, as between them Ted Wells on keyboards and Bob Allen on bass, fill the expected void admirably. That's not to say that everything on Chroma Cannon works as smoothly as intended with "Lost" and "No Fly Zone" really sound laboured and with the intrusion of the sax, a little contrived. The melee continues through much of the album and whilst the frenetic poundings of "Air Splits" or "Rocket Boots" sound like they would translate fantastically into the live arena, in studio much of their intended impact is lost.

When Prizzy Prizzy Please really do hit their stride and lock into a fabulous groove, the outcome is extremely effective as the punch of "2020 Vision" and the especially memorable "New Shoes" illustrate. It's just a shame that they don't do this more often.

Track Listing
1. Large Hadron Collider
2. Lost
3. Clarence
4. Rocket Boots
5. Supersized Hookup
6. Pacific Garbage Patch
7. No Fly Zone
8. New Shoes
9. Ten Pin
10. Air Splits
11. 2020 Vision
12. Drizzling Diamonds

Added: April 9th 2010
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Band's MySpace Page
Hits: 2352
Language: english

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