American Princes are local music royalty
Daniel Doyle
Issue date: 11/14/03 Section: Arts and Entertainment
"David had finished school at Yale; I had just finished Hendrix. I had vague plans of moving to Boston when David called me and said, 'Remember how we always said we'd get together and make music after we finish school?' I said 'consider it done,'" Beachboard said.
Slade and Beachboard joined with drummer Matt Quin, a long-time friend of Slade's. The Princes then spent the next few months playing to crowds in Brooklyn and tightening up their songs.
After this period on the New York scene, they needed a cheaper place to live and a thicker sound, so they made the move to Little Rock and added Beachboard's long time comrade and Hendrix alum Collins Kilgore to the mix.
In Little Rock they have charged the local live scene with their mix of angular guitar parts, driving rhythms and balls-to-the-wall vocal screams.
"We are the people" is a document of the songs that grew from their diligent concert schedule over the past year. It includes seven radio-length rockers and one seven-minute epic.
Its first track, "Shock & Awe," begins with the insurgent opening lines "The whole nation's alone, / sick in the head, / tapped in the phones; / bones they break - you're sticks and you're stones, / and in on the take. / whatcha gonna do with the TV screen right in front of you?" This depiction of the individual's pain in a post-industrial American wasteland sets the tone for the rest of the album.
The record is not, however, a pessimistic benediction as much as it is a sonic vehicle for social awareness and hope. As Slade's screaming vocals in the song "New Haven Beast" will indicate - "let's raise our banners, / let's crash the parties, / let's - in the hallways, / let's make some sound" - it is clear that the Princes' music is no whimper; it is a deafening electric yawp.
The sounds come fast and heavy, as there is really only one ballad-like song, the second track, "Mark's Eye," which becomes pretty loud itself. After that, the band never looks back, giving us top-shelf guitar rock that never preoccupies itself with soloing or wacky pedal effects and never drowns out the vocals.
The album ends with "The Absentees," a seven minute marathon with apocalyptic lyrics reminiscent of the Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime": "frozen highways, picket fences, / falling bombs and flashing lenses- / in the desert seas and jungles, / cameras watch as fire tumbles. / so don't believe what we're saying, / just watch the images playing, my friends." The song then takes a turn from images of a war-torn planet, mutating from chaotic jamming into a steady ballad, leaving the listener with the words "there's nothing in the world that would be enough to keep us down. / 'cause if we get knocked down, we'll get up again."
The album is complete from start to finish, beginning with turmoil and ending with a message of hope. The Arkansas Times' Kevin Kirby liked it enough to say that it "could very well be the local record of the year." Rock is back! Go see the rock band at its rock shows!
Slade and Beachboard joined with drummer Matt Quin, a long-time friend of Slade's. The Princes then spent the next few months playing to crowds in Brooklyn and tightening up their songs.
After this period on the New York scene, they needed a cheaper place to live and a thicker sound, so they made the move to Little Rock and added Beachboard's long time comrade and Hendrix alum Collins Kilgore to the mix.
In Little Rock they have charged the local live scene with their mix of angular guitar parts, driving rhythms and balls-to-the-wall vocal screams.
"We are the people" is a document of the songs that grew from their diligent concert schedule over the past year. It includes seven radio-length rockers and one seven-minute epic.
Its first track, "Shock & Awe," begins with the insurgent opening lines "The whole nation's alone, / sick in the head, / tapped in the phones; / bones they break - you're sticks and you're stones, / and in on the take. / whatcha gonna do with the TV screen right in front of you?" This depiction of the individual's pain in a post-industrial American wasteland sets the tone for the rest of the album.
The record is not, however, a pessimistic benediction as much as it is a sonic vehicle for social awareness and hope. As Slade's screaming vocals in the song "New Haven Beast" will indicate - "let's raise our banners, / let's crash the parties, / let's - in the hallways, / let's make some sound" - it is clear that the Princes' music is no whimper; it is a deafening electric yawp.
The sounds come fast and heavy, as there is really only one ballad-like song, the second track, "Mark's Eye," which becomes pretty loud itself. After that, the band never looks back, giving us top-shelf guitar rock that never preoccupies itself with soloing or wacky pedal effects and never drowns out the vocals.
The album ends with "The Absentees," a seven minute marathon with apocalyptic lyrics reminiscent of the Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime": "frozen highways, picket fences, / falling bombs and flashing lenses- / in the desert seas and jungles, / cameras watch as fire tumbles. / so don't believe what we're saying, / just watch the images playing, my friends." The song then takes a turn from images of a war-torn planet, mutating from chaotic jamming into a steady ballad, leaving the listener with the words "there's nothing in the world that would be enough to keep us down. / 'cause if we get knocked down, we'll get up again."
The album is complete from start to finish, beginning with turmoil and ending with a message of hope. The Arkansas Times' Kevin Kirby liked it enough to say that it "could very well be the local record of the year." Rock is back! Go see the rock band at its rock shows!
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