Prinzhorn Dance School – Crackerjack Docker

Another night spent trawling through the net unearthed this forgotten gem. Signed to the ultra hip DFA Records, Prinzhorn Dance School are somewhat of an enigma. Not much is known about Tobin Prinz and Suzi Horn, as they rarely grant interviews. At the time of their debut album release, the only other person with anything good to say about the band was Mr ‘finger on the pulse’ Jim Carroll. The downside of being signed to a trendy label like DFA or Mute is that they go through EMI, and if not deemed a priority, they generally don’t get the attention or coverage they deserve. So PDS’s self-titled debut got very little attention, and was mainly slated in publications for being derivative, retro, and singular in its intent. Basically, most people didn’t get it. The beauty of PDS is their simplicity. Each song ruthlessly discards all the meaningless fluff, breaking songs down to a minimum of sheer necessity, yet still appearing compelling – no mean feat. Like some of the best pop music or punk, the emphasis is not on instrumentation or musicianship – adopting the theory of less is more. Therefore, the real beauty lies within that simplicity. For proof, check out their video for the single Crackerjack Docker. You may hate it, you may think they’re a pale imitation of The Fall, you may even think you can do better, but I guarantee you’ll still be humming it when you’re out tonight. Don’t be deceived by The Kills, PDS are far superior.