Prayer Group - Strawberry 10" (Clear Color Vinyl) LP Record

• 1. Plagiarism

• 2. Variance

• 3. Strawberry

• 4. Pig

• 5. Concern

• 6. PR Nightmare

• 7. Meatgrinder

PRAYER GROUP is a noise rock band that can't decide if it should be a punk band, or a noise rock band, and they generally don’t care. Formed nearby 2014 or so by way of folks who’d cut their teeth in Virginia bands Equestrians, Kingshead, Gifts From Enola, and others, their sound in this act veers towards something a bit more squarely in line with the most classic era of United States noise rock/post-hardcore. Having released three EPs and an LP over the past decade, along the way the band has left scattered venues across the East Coast in shambles, killed several vans and even more speakers, and most definitely plenty of brain cells. Having played alongside such contemporaries as USA Nails, Ken Mode, Multicult and Child Bite, PRAYER GROUP injects a hardcore punk brevity into their noise rock reinterpretations of the style, giving it a wild twist.

Currently embodied by vocalist Matt Voegel, guitarist Nate Dominy, drummer Anthony Stout, and Au Revoir bassist Carl Kranz making his PRAYER GROUP debut, Strawberry is a record from a tumultuous time, following lineup shifts, members and day jobs having relocated/changed, and families have come to look different than they used to. The record got a rushed start because of some uncertainties, then dragged to the finish line due to other, painful certainties. Some songs were written quickly, some had been simmering for years, and some were being written as they were being recorded. In the end, Strawberry begins straightforward in its delivery, wanders into some new realms, then comes ripping back to full force by the end, delivering some varying textures while remaining accurate to the band’s live sound. While it rides barely shorter in length than their Michael Dose album, the few minutes’ difference resulted in the pressing of a bastard 10” format release, while still dropping all the might of a proper LP.

Fans of Pissed Jeans, The Jesus Lizard, Big Black, Drive Like Jehu, Breather Resist, Blacklisters, Buildings, USA Nails, Fucked Up, join the PRAYER GROUP.