The Prefab Messiahs – Music For Concerned Citizens

The Prefab Messiahs roots lie deep in the garage revival scene that followed in punk’s wake in the 1980’s, the band started life as a raw and eccentric garage punk band and the output of their formative years can be heard on the Devolver compilation. That title seems totally appropriate for the New England outfit, as the further forward the world moves, the further back in time The Prefab Messiahs seem to travel. Now the psychedelic garage punks are set to return with their new album, Music For Concerned Citizens, which boasts a title which encompasses pretty much everyone right now.

There is an undeniable 60’s garage sound to The Prefab Messiahs that is married to a psychedelic sensibility, at first glance this is an album that embraces the original spirit of counterculture , one that delivers it’s message in the band’s own inimitable way. The opening track, Water Bottle, carries the feel of the twelve string summery sounds of The Byrds, but scratch the surface and you have a track the takes on the plastic pollution that is threatening to swamp our oceans. This is followed by a pair of contemporary classic snotty garage punk stompers, When Things Fall Apart and 21st Century Failure.

Music For Concerned Citizens continues to reside simultaneously in the past and present, with Bubble reflecting the state of social media, and the echo chamber that many inadvertently reside in, with a soundtrack straight out of The Fuzztones playbook. Beautiful Things 2, which confusingly precedes part 1, and Lonely Astronaut slide back into hallucinogenic revelry before we head off into the stomping psychedelic garage punk of Mellotron and a sinister revisitation of the Bring On The Robots single, a theme that that carries over into Buddy (Snapper). There’s a return to some classic psychedelic vibes with Beautiful Things 1 before things close with the timely and eccentric Pandemic Pam.

If you want screaming punk rock then this probably isn’t the album for you, however, if you want to hear the soundtrack of the roots of the original punk scene with a contemporary twist, rather then one that’s embedded in dated values and references, then no one, and I mean no one, is doing this better than The Prefab Messiahs right now. The influences from the original 60’s garage and psychedelic scenes feel authentic and this is coupled with the spirit of the first wave of the garage revival, of which The Prefab Messiahs were a part. What makes this album truly stand out is the fact that it doesn’t feel like an anachronism in any way, shape or form, Music For Concerned Citizens is quite simply a psychedelic happening for the modern age

Music For Concerned Citizens will be self released on the 9th July and can be pre-ordered on digital and CD formats via Bandcamp.