The Prairie Cartel – Where Did All My People Go?

Now here’s an interesting story.  A bunch of dudes with way too much time on their hands and an affinity for rocking out to everything from disco, punk, indie, rock and electro one day realize they’re potentially talented DJs.  They go on tour in the UK, get threatened with deportation after rocking what were undoubtedly out of control raves, return home, lock themselves in a basement cluttered with pizza boxes and rats, and eventually end up with a song, and then an entire radio station, in one of today’s most popular video games, Grand Theft Auto.  Sweet.

What started as an excuse for three friends to hang out has since exploded into a full-blown elecro-“insert genre here” group known as The Prairie Cartel.  The band, hailing from Chicago, features a little bit of everything, so a brief survey of their debut full length, Where Did All My People Go, album seems to be in order.

The album starts off with “Keep Everybody Warm.”  A fairly slow, five minute foray in lofty beats sounding as if Moby and Coldplay got together after hours in a nightclub, and proceeded to make a psychedelic lightshow featuring The Chrystal Method.  The track starts off with an almost vacant feel, eventually filling out with guitars and evolving into something bigger a few minutes in.  Its shear size alone makes it a great opener.

Next up, “Suitcase Pimp,” a track featuring a variety of different vocal styles (some laughably rave-like, and some with Joel Plaskett-like overtones), explores the potential for managers to take advantage of artists in the industry.  The track features some pretty crude lyrics (“can I kick it can I lick it/if I lick it will you like it/if I kick it will you like it”), but the track’s purpose and continually evolving nature tends to shine through.

The third and forth tracks’ don’t contribute anything new.  At first I thought that the band had reached a rather narrow saturation point (it tends to linger too long without much happening), but once “Beautiful Shadow” started up, those fears were dashed.  The track, soundings like an indie tinged rock tune peppered with Depeche Mode-like choruses, showcases the group’s curious way with words.  The chorus chimes “every girl has a beautiful shadow/that she slings upon the wall of the cave.  Every woman has a sinister double/everybody’s got a love they can’t say.”  It’s fun, cyclical, and attention grabbing.

As if momentarily reinvigorated, the sixth track, “Homicide,” pushes their creative process even further, becoming the album’s highlight.  It’s upbeat, infectious, and involves gang vocals chanting – no, celebrating – homicide.  The result is the perfect juxtaposition of dreary content and a lively atmosphere.  From here on out the album cycles through these various styles.  There’s not a lot more to say, and while tracks like “Narcotic Insidious” sound like repackaged versions of “Suitcase Pimp,” there are others like “Jump Like Chemicals” that keep the back half fairly energetic.

Where Did All My People Go takes mashing electro-beats with other forms of alternative to new levels.  Granted, you’ll only get as much mileage out of The Prairie Cartel as your own musical taste permits.  Personally, I found repetition heavy tracks like “Keep Everybody Warm” a little tiresome, and those with a more traditional song structure like “Beautiful Shadow” more satisfying.  So, depending on your breadth of preferences, you’ll either find a lot or a little to like.  I just happen to fall in with the former.