The Italian Flag - reviews

"Prolapse are a band of people that would appear to be of the emotionally fiery and panic-stricken variety. Witness the evidence (whether fathomable or not): on stage they deliver an intense cacophony of noisy emotions - an outburst of their tentative lives put to music by way of sonik moogs and even more sonic guitar. 'I know I need my head examined' / 'He will never understand me' sings Linda. The punkoid chugging of Slash/Oblique takes up the story as twin vocalists Linda and Mick point their case: 'I feel you move away from me, you don't respond to anything' chants Linda -'they'll always be your enemy' / 'The things you do will never come back to you' spits Mick. On Deanshanger they're singing cross-purposes, unaware of each other's presence (as on stage at times). Mick 'the 80s were crap...' Linda 'my legs are strapped to the floor...' Meanwhile, their bursting from Fall melodies into Stereolab choruses. Nutty to say the least, yet so entertaining. Cacophony No. A and I Hate the Clicking Man, which run alongside the singles Killing the Bland and Autocade, come out as more superior than the prelude tasters. Autocade, although gliding fine, is just old skool indie at the end of the day. Whereas the tantalising dfarkness of I Hate the Clicking Man would have been a more sensational invitation to this album. It is bursting ith life with its roasted guitars and space age Lab grooves. Then A Day at Death Disco (sic) presents an Elastica-like feel, accompanied by a pent-up, tetchy and bewildered Linda. Bruxelles follows, floating in as soothing relief. Gentle as it is, it sounds strangely intimate; as Mick and Linda speak random single words one after another over a dream-like soundtrack. Strange concept indeed, but would anyone else find reason to do similar - and make it sound so perfect. Flat Velocity Curve, with its floating fragility and fiery rages, has all the ambience of a tense operating surgeon with a patient in near death experience. Spacey moogs vs riproaring bursts of guitar. Visa for Violet and Van acts as the final blowout of a life less ordinary - or not (?); that is bar the very final closing - the medieval chant psychedelia of Three Wooden Heads. As Mick confirms at the close of Flat Velocity Curve: 'Zurich is stained' and surely it means somrhthing to him. The strange little spinning worlds of Prolapse are indeed by most accounts unfathomable. Prolapse then. Dizzy, dazed and delightful. A band that will hopefully never be fathomable and all the better for it."

- Duncan Illing, Planet of Sound


"Their most accomplished release to date paints an angry portrait of urban and psychological isolation. Biting self-doubt and wry cynicism are expressed in a cyclical, spiralling frenzy of guitar, shouting and bagpipes! The thick Scottish brogue of MICK DERRICK and the whimsical musings of LINDA STEELYARD form layers of dual-channel vocals, more often chanted than sung. For fans of TH' FAITH HEALERS, FLAMING LIPS and STEREOLAB."

- John Woosley, 'Quaker' website


"The phone rings and I'm sitting at my desk staring at my computer. Some English or Australian accent is on the other line asking me did I get the Prolapse CD he sent me, and had I had a chance to listen to it. I vaguely remember a promo CD with a "P" on it, but you have to really see my desk to believe the mess. I promised the accent that I would find the CD and give it a listen ASAP.

One month later, the accent calls back. Had I listened to his CD yet? No. I scramble to get out my lame excuse about how I've been really busy but, and I'm so unorganized bla bla bla, but I will indeed listen to the CD just as soon as I can dig it up. So here I am.

Y'know what? I like it. Prolapse has a really big, swirling sound with lots of weird panning vocals. Mick Derrick and Linda Steelyard's vocals remind me of Johnny Rotten and Allison Statton from her Young Marble Giants period. I especially like "Cacophony No.a" and "I Hate the Clicking Man". If I had to put the CD in a pigeonhole, I'd say that it's kind of a combination between Sonic Youth circa Sister and Stereolab. I bet this is a good CD to do Xtacy to -- not that I encourage that kind of behavior."

- minxmag



"Despite a name that might suggest death metal, or at least earwax-churning improv
jazz, Prolapse make pure indie for pop people. 'Pure indie', in that this is none of your indie-dance nonsense, none of your indie-grunge noise, and most certainly none of your major-label-posing-as-indie-music heading for the top of the charts. This is the kind of indie music that used to regularly bellow from your radio when you were listening to John Peel about 15 years ago.

From floaty female vocals which echo the likes of Girls At Our Best, to shouty bloke vocals that sound like someone round here never quite got over 1976, to the juddering guitar-based rock, this is indie music that wouldn't dream of ditching the cardigans and silly titles for something more compromisingly slick.

That hasn't stopped the outfit's latest album, The Italian Flag (Radar) from garnering a whole bunch of rave reviews, probably because the music press are just old-fashioned indie boys and girls at heart, no matter what the label says on their trainers. A night for like-minded nostalgists."

- Laura Lee Davies, Time out

"Prolapse railed with incisive wit and (slash/)oblique political insight, with loaded menace against those who are obsessed with the rain, state of the youth, shifting the blame in late-twentieth century british culture." [more... from Head Heritage]