Prove You Wrong (Anniversary Edition)

On Prove You Wrong Prong began to allow a little more melody to trickle into their depressing urban noisescapes, but the album lacks some of the spark which made the band's breakthrough, Beg to Differ, so surprising. The trio gets right down to business with brutal opener "Irrelevant Thoughts," its tribal drumming and supersonic guitar effects literally stomping on the listener's brain. "Positively Blind," "Hell if I Could," and the title track are scathing attacks on the emerging Generation X complacency, and the latter's riff is a wonderfully perverted twist on Led Zeppelin's "Celebration Day." Yet the album's two singles, "Unconditional" and "Pointless," though undeniably catchy, are remarkably similar in structure and rhythm -- not necessarily a bad thing, but repetitive nonetheless. New bassist Troy Gregory takes over lead vocals for "Brainwave," one of the disc's few real surprises along with a storming cover of the Stranglers' "Get a Grip on Yourself." But with so little novelty added to the band's sonic palette, the overall result still leaves something to be desired. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia