Gig Review - Prinzhorn Dance School

Prinzhorn Dance School
Funktion Rooms, Eastbourne
Tuesday 6th March 2007

Sometimes a band can be so exciting they just inspire people to pick up an instrument and play. This band does exactly that, but only because you know you couldn’t possibly be any worse than the noise heard tonight.

Battling rain and street cleaners to make it through Eastbourne’s town centre, an upbeat mood encircles the 100-plus people inside Funktion Rooms. Hey, it’s Tuesday night, a fair few people have turned up and the DJ’s spinning The Strokes. What’s more, cutting edge New York label DFA’s newest signings are playing live.

DFA have released danceable rock by the likes of The Rapture, Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem, operating with a small collection of bands equally inspiring and innovative. Now they’ve signed Prinzhorn Dance School. Why they have done so is as incomprehensible as the reasons a bloke at the bar is dressed as a ballerina.

Prinzhorn Dance School are a three-piece made up of a bland singer-guitarist, a competent bass player and a ‘drummer’ who plays like Animal from The Muppets but with far less talent. The band crash through a set that divides the audience into two: those who walk out and those who stay and wish they had walked out.

Rhythm is seemingly a dirty word as the Brighton-based band begins Black Bunker. A harsh, raw sound ensues, dominated by shouted boy-girl repetitive vocals. A mumbled thank you at the end of the din informs the bemused crowd this was actually a song and not the soundcheck. Three tracks later, the crowd has halved as many find the eclectic DJ set down in the Subclub far more appealing. Having said that, sawing your ears off with a rusty spoon is also a more attractive proposition.

Bassist Suzi Horn’s unrefined bass lines underpin the sound, but aren’t strong enough to carry such basic songs. Past single You Are The Space Invader shows promise, with a deep, dirty riff recalling The Black Keys’ blues-tinged rock. Yet the drummer continues to crash about like a baby with a rolling pin in each hand, undermining any signs of melody.

Of course, this is the point. The band attempts to capture the stripped blueprint of The White Stripes, the aesthetic that less is more. However, they haven’t mastered the intricacies of making sparse music sound full, coming across amateur and laughable.

Despite the disappointment of seeing a band play like they’re deaf, many of Eastbourne’s aficionados of alternative music make their way downstairs to the Subclub, finding a room filled with dancing, happy people. The potential of Funktion Rooms’ alternative nights is considerable – provided they don’t book more bands like Prinzhorn Dance School.

Greg Rose