Brook Pridemore
Lyrics
The Reflecting Skin Photos
myspace
Brook Pridemore was born in Detroit, MI in 1979. Reared in the north suburbs of the Motor City, he was subject to a childhood so provincial that, when moving across the state to Kalamazoo for college, Pridemore felt like he'd moved to another continent.
Little did he know, Brook Pridemore would spend the years after college attending the University of Life, earning an honorary doctorate in American geography.
Fresh-faced and still swaddled in puppy fat, Pridemore landed in New York in September 2002, allowing himself seven short years to "make it" in the big city. The subsequent years involved joy, loss, illness, irreverance, music, meeting new friends, dissolving old ties, about three hundred thousand miles in a Dodge Caravan, and loads upon loads of dancing. Somewhere in there, Pridemore also wrote/recorded five albums of original material (and even more one-off comp tracks), predominantly issued on New York-based Crafty Records.
The first one, Metal and Wood, is a mish-mash of Michigan recordings, when Pridemore was a guy with a guitar, but not much to say. The second one, First Name/Last Name, issued in 2004, is slicker, funnier, more emotional, and features the tight-as-fuck rhythm section of drummer Mike Yannich and bassist Adam Zielinski. The third one, The Reflecting Skin, features the return of Yannich and Zielinski (who met for the first time on the night of its' March 2006 release). Dealing largely with the deaths of several of Pridemore's close, long-absent friends, The Reflecting Skin finds Pridemore turning his focus toward death, mental illness and redemption, and coming into his own as a lyrical innovator reminiscent of Asbury Park-era Springsteen, The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle and Paul Simon's Graceland. Three years after its' release, Pridemore still considers The Reflecting Skin to be his Double Nickels on the Dime.
And sincerely hopes that you won't consider its' follow up to be his Three Way Tie (For Last). After the Christmas 2007 stopgap covers album Brook Pridemore Sings Greatest Antifolk Hits, Pridemore focused all of his energy on the next album, resulting in his fourth album of original material for 2009, A Brighter Light. Turning his focus away from others and aiming the knife chestward (no longer interested in elevating or disrespecting the dead), A Brighter Light is Pridemore's examination of his feelings on God, family, love, and his own emotional frailties. Stripped of the metaphor that buried a lot of The Reflecting Skin's harshest observations, A Brighter Light is a much darker record.
But, hot shit, is it danceable! Featuring the bass guitar of longtime collaborator Dan Costello and the highly in-demand drumming of Michael David Campbell, A Brighter Light is a dance record somewhere between White Light/White Heat, Back in the USA and the Eels' Electro-Shock Blues. And, doing what he does best, Pridemore is hell-bent on bringing the dance party to your town. Like the carnival, the Superbowl, and herpes, Pridemore will be back. Set your watch on it.
Punk Rock BBQ Video
(you probably want to press stop on the music player on the bottom left)
