Prints - Some People Will Listen To Anything

Prints

Some People Will Listen To Anything
self-released; 2014

4.0 out of 5

By Jamie Robash

From the opening chords of “I Thought I'd Hear You Arrive” the first track on the album Some People Will Listen To Anything by Sydney, Australia’s garage/post-punk quartet Prints I got the feeling of being transported back over a decade with bands like The Strokes, The Kooks and a little bit of Franz Ferdinand. Though this last part is due mostly to the similar vocal styling that Prints front man and guitarist Oliver Badman shares with Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos. 

And though I don’t think it was recorded too long ago, the members of Prints have admitted that the six songs on their debut EP, Some People Will Listen to Anything were long overdue. Luckily however for fans of the garage/post punk genre, the EP has finally arrived. I say luckily for myself too, as I am and have long still been a fan garage/post punk genre and feel that although it had its time in the mainstream that it never really went away. 

And meaning no disrespect to my home, and albeit very beloved country, the good ole USA, I have always found that European imports and their once if not still loyal to the Crown counterparts always played the garage/post-punk revival sound better. Perhaps it’s the accent, or the smooth swagger with which the lyrics are delivered. Though there also seems to be a little bit more fuzz coming through the amps, and little more of that shitty grittiness that only half-assed equipment can give off. 

These elements of sweet vocal swagger and gritty guitar licks are all over Some People Will Listen to Anything. Right out of the gate on “I Thought I'd Hear You Arrive” the bass and guitar intertwine in a fight of who can sound filthier, as the cymbals crash like broken glass. Though it’s also Badman’s slightly reverbed vocals and the way he delivers them as though he’s speaking to a therapist, there is restraint it seems about telling too much. 

The band also knows how to exercise their rocking rights, as they do on the sped up and punky “Emergency Exit” where they employ the speed metal beats and choppy stops while still managing to add enough hooks to make the song more than just noise rock. 

In addition to knowing how to rock, Prints is also good at what could be called a garage rock ballad. They do this on songs like the sixties pop rock influenced “Lady Penelope” with its head bobbing hooks and heartfelt lyrics delivered with painful precision. 

As the album’s title suggests, some people will listen to anything, though I would strongly suggest that anyone looking for a new and relatively unknown band to listen to, one that can make you dance just as easily as they can make you want to mosh then definitely check out this Prints EP. 

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