Listen up, punk fans, there’s punk band out of Indonesia to look out for. Prison of Blues are a four-piece churning out throat grinding vocals, some manic guitar shredding along with manic drumming and a stand-up bass that plays so fast I wonder how the strings don’t melt from the friction.
Their new CD Trick or Threat doesn’t bother to even introduce itself politely. It slams you over the head with a blunt instrument requiring you to jolt awake and pay attention. After getting your attention with one minute and ten seconds of the first track, “Tobacco City Psychobilly,” the music calms down only slightly.
“Who Killed Your Friend?” Is the second track and is a rather macabre love song that affixes a death grip around your throat with warnings of broken hearts and bloody valentines.
That figurative grip around the throat doesn’t let go for the rest of the CD as the grinding guitars, stand-bass and drums continue at supersonic speed. The grip loosens slightly on track five, “Spent Tonight With You,” a sensuous love song that lulls the listener into a cryptic trance only to return the death grip in the sixth and final track, “Bloody Valentine.”
Prison of Blues consists of Bowo Prisoner on vocals and guitar, Ndaru on lead guitar, Rasfioro on stand-up bass and Antoli on drums. They are part hardcore punk, part psychobilly and remember how fast the Ramones or the Dickies played? Bump up the speed by about one third and you have a pretty good idea of what Prison of Blues sounds like.
These guys burn through their songs with venomous energy and are a must listen to for any punk fan.
