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Prussia, Detroit
The Mew sound (rum Motor City
ention Detroit to a stranger, and visions of crime, grime
and decay come to mind. Even the city's most famous
exports: Motown, The Stooges, Eminem and The White
Stripes seemingly have abandoned the Motor City for
sunnier skies and lower murder rates. But springing up from
the urban blight and the skeletons of America's automobile
industry is Prussia, a band that has little to do with the city's
musical pedigree.
Built around a foundation of airtight harmonies, dizzying,
almost Afrobeat-like percussion and jangling guitars, the band
feels like a sporty and foreign alternative to the gas-guzzling
rock of Detroit's past.
"There isn't a lot of that stuff going on anymore. Bands
aren't using that as the foundation as much as they used to
be," says Adam Pressley, a multi-instrumentalist for Prussia.
Pressley and his cohorts may not be the typical barre chord
churning rockers from times past, but the band finds itself
among a group of local musicians who are changing percep
tions of what bands and artists from Detroit sound like.
"There's a great DIY scene going on here. A place called
Scrummage University brings a lot of great artists and bands
into the area," says Pressley.
While a venue owned by a collective hardly brings to mind
the dark-and-dingy-room-with-a-single-light-bulb-swinging-
from-the-ceiling image made popular in 8 Mile, the reality isn't
that far off.
"It's an old toy factory that was abandoned that has been
turnc into a music venue. I guess in a way it's like that scene
from 8 Mile," says Pressley with a laugh.
But the sound of the scene and the validity of the venue
hardly matter unless the band is worthwhile. What Prussia
excels at is less straightahead rock and roll and more of a
jangly and psychedelic take on pop music. Harmonies pop up,
instruments drop out, and throughout are off-kilter melodies
that feature hooks so big that lead singer Ryan Spencer could
land Moby Dick. Imagine Flowers-era Rolling Stones colliding
with Animal Collective while hanging out at Vampire Weekend's
house and you're on the right track.
"Our songs seem to dodge the typical verse-chorus-verse-
bridge-chorus structure and repetition of a typical pop song,
but we consider ourselves a typical pop band. We are big fans
of pop music; we just try to put our own spin on what we think
pop music is," says Pressley.
The basic ingredients for Prus-d's brand of anti-pop are
similar to the more traditionally minded groups, but it's what
the chefs do with those ingredients that sets the band apart.
"It starts with Ryan on the guitar or another instrument. He
writes the chords or a vocal melody and then he sends that to
the band, and we pick it apart, add parts, subtract parts and
rearrange things. In the end, it's something completely differ
ent than what was sent to us," says Pressley.
"The sound of young America" may have packed up and left
for Los Angeles 40 years ago, but the sound of what remains is
every bit as exciting, and that sound is coming from Prussia in
Detroit.
Jason Bugg
WHO: Prussia, Sunspots, Green Gerry
WHERE: Farm 255
WHEN: Sunday, ian. 23
HOW MUCH: FREE!
Friday, Jan. 21 @ CfiidewayOD
wwwUGADJ.com
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