Warning! This EP is full of sociopathic grooviness.

"There is something so familiar and comforting about this unique 4 song EP. That guitar tone; those riffs – as if I’ve heard it before. I went through my entire tape collection. DLIMC? CCTV? Coneheads? Research Reactor Corp? Gary Supply? Gee Tee?

No, but you get what I mean. It has a familiar rock air to it. As soon as I hit ‘publish’ I’ll think of who’s alter ego this is and immediately want to kick rocks for not hitting the buzzer.

Either way, this “Barcelona” band called Prison Affair came ripping through my speakers in the late hours and has been on repeat ever since. It has the quick hi-hat hits and wobbly tape effects that are instantly gratifying to the senses. It’s soothing and anxiety driving. It’s dark and bouncy.

It traps you like a cage and drives you mad in your four wall cell. Or maybe it’s just driving me crazy that I can’t pin down who the fuck this is.

Perhaps it isn’t something I’ve heard before. This is just a new hip band from Spain and they’ve just hit the nail on the head for someone that loves 4-track recordings, middy guitar riffs, lofi bass, and tight drum beats. Prison Affair really contained me in their sound, locked me up in world, and won’t let me go.

They’ll take you on a journey from processing to the wardens office and straight to their isolation cell in just under 5 minutes. Before you know it you’ll be out on the streets and ready to commit a crime, just to be arrested to get a chance to hear more from Prison Affair."

Our take: I don’t know much about Prison Affair except that they (if indeed it’s more than one person) are from Barcelona and this EP, 2, is their first vinyl release. It comes to us via Germany’s Erste Theke Tonträger and fits right in on the label that brought the Coneheads album to the masses. (Aside: it frustrates me that the style of punk Coneheads pioneered still doesn’t have a coherent, generally accepted name. I can’t fuck with “Devo-core.”) Prison Affair has the mutant Chuck Berry licks, direct-to-board guitar sound, fast closed hi-hat drumming, and over the top tape warble you want from this style, and if you buy genre records in this genre, I can’t see any reason you wouldn’t love it. I do, however, think Prison Affair brings something new to the style. I hear this most clearly on my favorite track, “Entre Barrotes,” which has a melancholy-sounding chord progression that reminds me of the Buzzcocks’ “Harmony in My Head.” The tension between that gloomy chord structure and the relentless cheer of the riffing style results in a spectacular track. While that song is the highlight, there are elements of that originality all over 2. If you like this style, this is a no brainer; and even if you don’t, there’s a lot of cool stuff going on here if you’re willing to hear beyond the surface level.