At the end of the month, Izzy Hagerup is releasing her debut album as Prewn, Through The Window. She’s shared “But I Want More” and “Perfect World” from it already, and today she has one last single for us, “Woman,” which starts off roiling and upsetting and only gets more smeary and fractured as Hagerup layers on the dissonance and syrupy atmosphere. “I wrote ‘Woman’ directly after a family call with my grandmother in her last days of life, dazed on morphine, dying from covid,” Hagerup said of the track in a statement, continuing:
"We went around to share memories and I was shaken because I couldn’t think of any. I’d known that woman my whole life, and I had no real idea who she was. This song is about coming to terms with such a loss, doing my best to say my last words, the first and last chance I had to reach for her, to relate to her, to celebrate her. It’s also my ode to not take the people in my life and my own self for granted in this fleeting existence."
Late last year NYC-based fuzz-rock tag team, Jobber, released their debut EP, Hell In A Cell, which garnered acclaim from the likes of Stereogum, The FADER, Bandcamp Daily, FLOOD Magazine, BrooklynVegan, and many more. Now they're jumping back in the ring with a new single "Summerslam," out today from Exploding In Sound Records.
Packing massive guitars, sugary melodies, and a larger than life personality, Jobber combine alternative music and professional wrestling to make songs that are sure to please fans of the squared circle and rockers alike. "Summerslam" arrives just days before its wrestling event namesake and taps into the band's heavier side without sacrificing their knack for big hooky choruses.
Vocalist/guitarist Kate Meizner discussed the new single, saying:
"Summerslam is the first Jobber song that really resembles the heavy rock I used to hear growing up when WWF was at its peak. I wrote the Helmet-inspired bass line and main riff a while ago, not sure if it would see the light of day; it didn’t seem to fit with the other Jobber songs at the time. After I showed it to Mike, he made a demo with a couple more parts completed that brought the song to life. We ended up co-writing the rest, focusing on making it catchy but also heavy with some over-the-top excess, like something from a WWF-era Summerslam commercial or in the background of WCW Beach Brawl ‘99. Thematically the song is about people who enter positions of political power and become jaded, going through motions only to lose touch with how their actions impact real human lives."
Led by Meizner (current member of The Glow and Hellrazor, as well as former touring member of Maneka, Potty Mouth and Snail Mail) and drummer Mike Falcone (current member of Hellrazor and former member of Speedy Ortiz and Ovlov), Jobber explore the parallels between professional wrestling, life as a musician, and gig worker frustrations. The band's songs are delivered from the top rope with equal parts ferocity, melody, humor, and brains. It's an impressive amalgam that--like many of the best wrestlers--transcends the gimmick to tap into something true and potent. Start rooting for them now, because Jobber are coming for the championship belt.
A couple weeks ago, the Northampton, Massachusetts musician Iggy Hagerup released “But I Want More,” the stunning lead single from her upcoming debut album as Prewn, Through The Window. Today, she’s back with another new song, “Perfect World.”
“I wrote this song on a day when two relationships in my life came to a stop. A day when I found a lot of irony in all the conspiracies some believe and hold on to as if they’re all they’ve got,” Hagerup said in a statement, continuing:
“Perfect World” is written from the perspective of a billionaire so bloated with wealth he drinks baby’s blood to stay fit and terrorizes the world for his own benefit. He seems to enjoy believing everything and everyone is at his disposal.. But take away his wealth, look into those ravenous eyes, and you realize all he’s really seeking is a love that can’t quite be reached.
It was an immersive experience in the studio that lead to Izzy Hagerup completing Prewn’s debut album, spending time in seclusion, forcing herself to expand on her ideas, to push through mental blocks. As a member of Kevin McMahon’s expansive psych ensemble Pelican Movement, the producer (whose credits include Widowspeak, Titus Andronicus, Pile) invited Hagerup to use his otherwise empty studio during the pandemic lockdown to devote herself to writing and recording. The results are staggeringly beautiful and triumphantly visceral. Those sessions along with some home-recorded additions arrive as Through The Window, a solo record that finds Hagerup handling the entirety of the instrumentation, bringing her songs to life with a personal touch. While Prewn has since expanded into a quartet, there’s an immediacy and earnest nature to the solo recordings. Captured with brilliantly engaging vocal performances, structures that unfold piece by piece, and a sense of unnerving fragility that’s paired with a reckless resolve, the control in Hagerup’s delivery and compositions are astounding from start to finish.
“But I Want More” is the record’s first single, a perfect introduction to Prewn’s sound, equal parts sinewy alternative rock and experimental-leaning psych folk. The song takes many shapes, weaving a path that seems to render heartbreak in its various stages. As the song opens with a minimal guitar strum and an understated simplicity, the arrangement slowly begins to open, raw emotion leading to heavier progressions and haunting sentiment. There’s a groove that resides deep in the pocket, but the song maintains mood over all else. Things aren’t great and there’s no reason to sugarcoat it. Hagerup wrote the song from the perspective of her father, whose lifelong battle with Parkinson’s disease was made even more tragic during Covid as he was quarantined away from family in a nursing home for over a year. Each lyric stings a bit more as Hagerup describes both preventative care and the failure of one’s own faculties. It’s crushing and brutal in sentiment, but there’s a beautiful tribute that comes with it, as those we can’t be near remain forever loved in our thoughts.
Prewn’s Through The Window is out August 25th via Exploding In Sound Records.
Upcoming Shows: 07/23 - Florence, MA @ The Marigold w/ Shady Bug, Gold Setter, & Sleep Destroyer
We in the ATH offices have a few favorites for album of the season and Shady Bug’s upcoming joint What’s the Use? is surely in contention. Already we’ve shared the stunner, “Zero Expectations,” and now the band are treating us to another preview with this jam “Favor.” Without offering too much of an opinion or comparisons, I’ll just say that if you haven’t check out this band and their new material yet, well what are you even doing. Get on it.
