There is something special about capturing a band's live performance. It has a rawness not often felt when sitting in a bedroom with a four-track recorder or a professional recording studio, but it seems the Minneapolis slowcore act Prathloons have managed to catch, and then bottle that energy, with their second installment in their Live Loons series.
Recorded at Urban Artifacts in Cincinnati, Ohio, Live Loons: Urban Artifacts 5.19.19 captures everything from the band's overenthusiastic false start on "Jack and Jill" to the crushing climax of "Mallwood." Upon first listen, I was struck by the quality of the recordings. This album isn't a collection of blown-out/lopsided mixes recorded from the soundboard at a random show. It's a showcase of Prathloon's ability to take the introspective, melancholic stories found on their self-titled debut and give them a new sense of urgency.
The album isn't fully free of the trappings found on DIY live recordings. There are points throughout the record where Collin Dall's voice is buried under the weight of washing drums and cacophonous guitars; however, the band knows how to compensate - when they should pull back for lyrical impact, and when to bear down for cathartic emphasis. The track "Jetsam" sits in the dead center of the album. It rides the line of lyric versus sonic impact perfectly. Dall's voice is swallowed by instruments during the filler "La La La's" only to be thrust forward as he laments, "Why won't you notice me? / As I wither away and dive right into my bedsheets."
As someone who works in a place devoid of culture, Live Loons: Urban Artifacts 5.19.19 helps fill the space left open for going to live shows. Everything from Dall's dry banter with the audience to audible calls between band members gives my tiny office some much needed new energy.
You can stream Live Loons: Urban Artifacts 5.19.19 on Spotify and Apple Music or purchase it, along with their 2018 debut self-titled album, on Bandcamp.
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