If you think of Garage Rock as just three chords in a damp rehearsal room, you haven't met PRISONER yet. The sextet from Mulhouse and Bordeaux approaches things differently: On their self-titled debut album (released via Little Steven's label Wicked Cool Records), the French band combines dirty garage-psych with the sound of old TV and film soundtracks from the 60s and 70s.
The result is a mostly instrumental, hypnotic album that functions less like a collection of individual songs and more like a continuous soundtrack to a dusty ninety-minute film. Fuzz guitars meet stubborn motorik beats from the Krautrock corner, shadowy post-punk vibes, organs, and even a trombone. Classic song structures give way to long tension arcs and trance rhythms.
Led by singer Susanne Pemmerl and guitarist Philippe "Philos" Simon-Girard, the band has already provided a taste with "La femme qui s’était faite toute seule" – complete with quicksand groove and horns. If you enjoy vintage sound, chases in spirit, and hazy analog LPs, you should let the album play from start to finish.
The album is now available everywhere as a stream and physical release.
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