Prawn, Kingfisher, 2014

Commuter Blues Record Review

If, then statements.

I've been commuting again. I started a new gig in August and have been on the daily traffic grind. I've surfaced only occasionally, which included a very sweaty night a couple of weekends back with rock warriors Hot Blood and The Battery Electric. In the interim, I've spent a lot of time in my car.

My car, she's a basic “car” with roll down windows and an AM/FM radio and none of your modern Bluetooth or USB ports to speak of. So I improvise with one old iPhone 4 and one “Little Dude Mini Speaker” from iHip. I've been rotating my listening between WCBS 101.1 and my action-packed 2014 Stuff I Should Listen To playlist. There are many more reviews to come as I now see a series forming around this one tiny speaker. So be it!!!

If it can move me, then it can move me. That said, here's the first installment of Scotch's "Commuter Blues Record Review."

The Raritan Bridge, oh how I loathe thee in the AM.

Ridgewood's Prawn released Kingfisher on Topshelf Records back in August. On a recent commute, I was already head bobbing to opener “Scud Running,” and the trumpet kicked in and... here we go.

I'm enjoying a rock and roll renaissance this summer. 2014 will be a difficult year to sift through and rank my favorites, and we haven't gotten through the fall yet. Last year, I was a bit taken with pop songs. This year has been a whole different animal with all of these guitars making a huge comeback for me. There are the returns of old favorites, some great debuts, and bands taking huge leaps forward, fighting for that elbow room on the top shelf next to the record player. "Top shelf," see what I did there?

I first dug on Prawn's Ships late last year (I was late to the party) and was happy to have tripped over news of a new LP. Kingfisher is another tight ten songs that flirts with some indie rock renaissance words. I'm digging this in a big "we're all wearing our hearts on our sleeves" way. I see that Prawn were out earlier this year with Foxing and one of this year's personal faves The Hotelier. Totally makes sense. 

“Glass, Irony” sees a return of the trumpet, totally solid. “Thalassa” is short, sweet to the point and guess what. Yes, horns. There's some serious crowd sing along potential to the “I'm glad you found clarity in ambiguity." All in all, I really like this record. I can't decide which tune I'd start a mixtape with, which would be really cool if this car had even a cassette player. That said, I'm moving to a proper set up for further listens. This record is big and dynamic and deserves better than my portable “Little Dude” system.

Our songs are still sing along songs.

The North Jersey boys of Prawn will bring the rock and/or roll to Asbury Lanes on October 3rd with A Great Big Pile of Leaves. Sweet. That I can do.

Now if only Prawn would update their Twitter feed with their weekly Jets report. (CoolDad note: Would love to read their take on Timeout Fiasco 2014.)

Kingfisher is out now on Topshelf Records.