PRE are a London five-piece (vocals, guitar, bass, bass and drums). They released their debut album Epic Fits, fourteen tracks recorded live straight to tape in one day and mixed the next, back in September after becoming the first ever European band to sign to Skin Graft Records.
Akiko’s fevered delivery has brought her comparisons to Melt-Banana’s Yasuko Onuki and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O. Even on record you can only imagine her throwing herself around, breaking no end of health and safety laws as she forces every last ounce of breath quickly and sharply from her lungs. Akiko also plays drums and sings in Comanechi.
Behind her the rest of the band are no slackers either. The overbalanced rhythm section (completed by Matt Warburton on bass and Rick Bennett on drums) lay down a solid but relatively unstable base for John Webb’s guitar riffs, which take no wave’s repetitive, atonal sounds to their absolute conclusion on songs like Scenes from a 1963 Los Angeles Love-In and Popping Showers, but joyfully and bouncily ascend and descend on Fudging on Our Folks and the 36 second cover of Half Japanese’s Ride Ride Ride.
The album was recorded by Westminster Brown (who has also worked with The Archie Bronson Outfit, Roland Shanks and The Pyramids) straight to half-inch tape in a pizza storage unit (apparently) over two days. |
