Following on from the monster debut album Upstate the band Prison have been transferred Downstate for their second album, from deep within the walls they will never leave before termination day, that has given them time to work together musically, the inmates are still Sarim Al-Rawi, Matt Lilly, Paul Major, Marc Razo, Adam Reich, Matt Leibovitz and Dave Smoota Smith. This goes out to Sam Jayne.
The album opens with Millions Of Armies (Wipe 'Em Out) that comes in with buzzing amps and feedback, dark tones, frazzled guitar and a monster drum riff, building out the miasma of sound, grunted vocals on a point of psychic collapse, insisting you gotta Wipe 'Em Out, stop the fighting and get deep within this barrage of sound.
Crocodile (alligator) dials things down to a deep bass riff, yelped vocals for those crocodiles.
Traveling Lady (In Prison) is slow mantra of despair and distinct menace, unclear exactly what this prisoner wants to do with that traveling lady at his cell door, dark entries implied, he asks her to stay a while, yelps and screams follow, we wonder if she ever gets to leave.
Up In A Tree with a trombone blasting out, they scrump an apple and stalk their prey, are they peeping Tom's or something more sinister.
Eyes For Keys is a modern phenomena for certain, you may need an eyeball to get the gates to open, this has furious blasts of psychotic guitar, raging against the systemic layers of security, with utter despair of the never ending walls closing in.
That's My Noise riffing around, looking for the right scream of agony, a shiv scraped across the strings, connecting through repetitions, trombone inflections, you hear some strange noise and wonder what just happened across the cell block, paranoia creeping in, searching for the persecutors or is it the persecuted. Hiding in the shadows, of flashbacks if you don't get ended.
Where's My Food if a question for those days when things have conspired against the feeding of inmates in a timely fashion, Lord the screws have other stuff to deal with. You're in solitary and last on the list to get dealt with, give me just one more crummy day, hoping things aren't going all Siberian cabbage soup and maggoty bread neither.
In The Tall Grass is a moment of solitude while out in the yard dreaming that you're alone sitting in the grass and don't share that space.
Laid back spaced out guitar just Made For You to chill out and stretch your muscles and mind, chatting musically your own secret code, A ranting roar starts unleashing his horn upon you.
Down To County well what are you doing here boy, show me your ID why are you here, we'll have to take you Down To County, you know it won't end well, what, was that boy yudda yudda yudda the same old story, blues of the wrongly incarcerated, the bullied and betrayed, you get in that cell boy and don't come out no more.
Find out more at https://www.dragcity.com/artists/prison https://prisonjam.bandcamp.com/album/downstate
