MARCH 2008 - So I was thumbing through one of the countless punk rags I get in the mail, skimming reviews and I came across a curious one. It said, "It's simply a travesty that this type of music has actually been recorded for posterity", or something like that. Well, I live for those kind of reviews - no description of the music, just a total, unabashed, head-shaking poo-poo of a CD. Within a few days, the disc was in my player, confounding and entertaining me as I knew it would. PRIZZY PRIZZY PLEASE's demented blend of proggy musicianship, punk power, and goofy bouts with R&B are a breath of fresh air for music fans seeking a departure from cookie-cutter rock. Plus, they're a friendly bunch, willing to give us the scoop on the basics of PPP 101.

Marchman: I just have a few questions based on my own curiosity, if you don't mind indulging me.

Mark Pallman: We'd love to answer your questions.

Marchman: I'm interested in the high falsetto-style vocals. I've heard a couple of other young punk bands using this style recently - it reminds me of THE STONES "Beast of Burden" a little. What's the deal?

Pallman: Well, I’m a pretty big PRINCE fan and I love hair metal. That stuff makes me giggle so I try my best to do the same.

Marchman: Are you guys fans of funk music?

Ted Wells: I am a huge fan of funk music and my love of it is only surpassed by my inability to play it. MEDESKI, MARTIN, AND WOOD’s album "Friday Afternoon in the Universe" opened up my universe, regarding what sounds keyboard instruments could make, but I also like old soul music like OTIS REDDING, ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS, and SAM & DAVE. I could go on, but I don’t want to pretend to be some kind of funky encyclopedia.

Marchman: Are all of the horn / saxophone bits created by the keyboard player, or are they actual horns?

Pallman: All the horn parts are actual saxophones. When we play live, I play the lead lines on sax. On the record though I did some layering with multiple saxes and harmonies…because it was a recording and I could. Yowzers was it special!

Marchman: Is the no-guitarist lineup intentional, or more of a "couldn't find one we liked" sort of thing?

Pallman: The no-guitarist lineup is absolutely intentional. Rather than a “couldn’t find one” scenario, it’s a “don’t need one” scenario. There just isn’t room for a guitar, besides the bass, in the band. The funny result of our quirky instrumentation is that when we play new venues, people often take us to be a ska band. I don’t think anyone has ever left the show because we set up a sax and a keyboard, but I have to explain our set-up to skeptical sound guys all the time, and we’ve been heckled before.

Marchman: I was pleased with great bass playing, some funk and 70s punk influences, but no resemblance to THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS.

Wells: "Stadium Arcadium", aside from having a vapid name, is a terrible album.

Bob Allen: Thanks. I wasn't really trying to sound like RHCP at any point in time so I count this as a personal victory. Because they are losers…but Anthony Kiedis’ shaved chest is totally dreamy.

Marchman: The intro to "thought command" reminds me of old PARLIAMENT "Mothership Connection" type of stuff. What's the concept behind the song?

Wells: The song was originally supposed to be the theme song to an old sci-fi TV serial from the ‘70s that we made up. The premise is that the heroes of the show would roam the galaxy in search of “things that think good” to sell for gold – forget about high-minded ideals like scientific exploration; our guys were only in it for the money. Gold money. A friend of ours wrote a script to the first episode, and we had characters fleshed out. We were all in college at the time, and other projects took precedence so we never went beyond the planning stages. Really, the idea just made us all laugh – and that’s the bottom line for our creative projects.

Marchman: The album artwork features tentacles and toilets. Interesting.

Pallman: Squids and toilets are super scary. We’re really brutal like that so we put one on the front of our record. Our buddy Nick Selm drew the squid and I did the rest of the layout in Photoshop. The texture around the squid is a collection of opossum vagina pictures from national geographic. We used them illegally. We’re pretty tough and stuff.

Marchman: The album artwork features tentacles and toilets. Interesting.

PRIZZY PRIZZY PLEASE are Scott McNiece (drums), Ted Wells (keyboards), Bob Allen (bass, vocals) and Mark Pallman (sax, vocals). Their self-titled disc is available through Let's Pretend Records or myspace.com/prizzyprizzyplease.