Prinzhorn Dance School - Prinzhorn Dance School

Genre rock Publisher DFA/Astralwerks External Links Official Prinzhorn Dance School Official DFA Records

"Repetition, repetition, repetition," notorious post-punk crank Mark E. Smith once sang, "repetition in the music and we're never going to lose it". Repetition is one of the basic building blocks of music – repetition of rhythm, repetition of structure, or repetition of theme – just try and imagine your favorite song or album without any sort of repeating element at all. Tough, isn't it? Whether it's the intricate themes of a jazz standard or the simple, pounding bass line of a Timbaland production, repetition can be one of the greatest weapons in any musician's arsenal. Prinzhorn Dance School are certainly aware of this, aware enough in fact that they approach the music they make with little more than that in mind.

This reclusive Brighton based duo, recently signed to the taste-making DFA label, spends the entirety of their debut album stretching repetition and minimalism nearly to their breaking point. Though oftentimes built around little more than the most basic of rhythms struck on a couple drums and a three-note repeating bass line, these sixteen songs are revelatory in their simplicity. In the spirit of their post-punk forefathers (The Fall, Young Marble Giants, Public Image Ltd), Suzi Horn and Tobin Prinz are far more interested in sounds and spaces than they are in overly produced, overly flowery music that says nothing at all.

Over these stark and bare foundations, Tobin and Suzi spout off all sorts of chanted slogans and rarely coherent ramblings about the workaday life in modern England. Mark E. Smith's spoken/sung ramblings make for an easy and obvious touchstone, but Prinzhorn's lyrics lack his bitingly acidic wit. Consider them the blurry, out-of-focus photographs to Smith's fully formed character sketches. Just like the music beneath, the lyrics are built upon several layers of repetition – words, sounds, phrases, and pauses are all used as both melodic and rhythmic devices, often at the same time. What starts out as simple and forgettable slowly morphs into elegant and engaging over time. Again repetition comes into play, this is one of those albums that only seems to get better as it fully sinks in on later spins.

At first this may seem like an odd addition to a label most known for James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem and a host of club-friendly remixes, but it turns out that Prinzhorn Dance School are a perfect fit. Just like Mr. Murphy's greatest studio creations, these songs are very carefully crafted and arranged with the utmost attention to detail. It's obvious that lots of thought is put into each strike of the drum head and scrape of the bass strings, both in terms of the sound produced and where it is placed. As M.E.S. knew, simplicity can be a wonderful thing.