The Prostitutes - "Cheap Highs"

Can I name another band besides The Prostitutes that I've been touting for the entire span of my years reviewing music? I don't think so! My first review of The Prostitutes dates back to 1996 (it was the band's debut 7" on Pelado Records). The Prostitutes would go on to become perhaps my favorite punk band of the '90s. And although I left them for dead a time or two or three, Kevin McGovern has managed to sustain this veritable institution of American punk rock through numerous changes in personnel and relocations from the East Coast to the Midwest to the West Coast and back to the East Coast. And even with all of those changes, the one thing that remains the same is that The Prostitutes still sound like The Prostitutes! The band's most recent EP Don't Want A Future (2017) is one of the strongest releases in its catalog. Now with new band-mates JR Matthew (guitar) and Barry Jewels (drums), McGovern has The Prostitutes back and sounding as good as ever. A new EP is in the works, as is a split 7" with the mighty Pegs. "Cheap Highs" is a little taste of what's to come - recorded earlier this month in the band's current home base of Baltimore with Don't Want A Future producer Tim Schock. I'd describe this track as "classic Prostitutes" with that modern edge to the guitars that Schock is so skilled at capturing. You hear that voice, and you immediately know what band you're listening to. And with lines like "self destructive pose/the midnight show/an image that always cracks", you're getting the sort of poetry that could only have come from the mind of Kevin McGovern. If you're a longtime fan, you should be so stoked for this song! And if The Prostitutes are still new to you, you would be wise to dive into the Bandcamp page and discover one of the greatest punk bands of the last 25 years. Stay tuned for more!



-L.R.

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