Superorgansim- Superorganism

“I think,” said my psychiatrist, “That you feel guilty about your desire to be a prawn.”

And who wouldn’t? You shouldn’t want to be just a small animal “floating in the sun looking down on the world.” Better to be a shark or something right? Something with a purpose, that aligns itself well with the expectations of society. But… and it pains me to admit this… at the end of the day, I’d rather be a prawn than a shark.

For that framework I have to thank Superorganism and their song “The Prawn Song.” And that message about it being better to be a prawn sums up the band’s message, if it has one, to quote the band itself: “It’s All Good.” And that’s a message people need to hear. Too often I see people just going going going, but it’s so clear from the outside that “It’s All Good.” Perhaps I’ve already adopted my role as prawn more than I’d like to admit.

This is a young person’s album, not in the fact that it won’t be understood by the old, or that it should only be listened to by the young, rather the message is one of irresponsibility and that’s the territory of the young. Another way this album is a young person’s album is that it sounds young. It’s all electricity and sound effects. The band members all live in a house and share the files of the songs, all adding something, a horn there some vocals here, until they have a finished product. And that’s more or less what the album sounds like, a bunch of parts that were thrown together but somehow come together.

The closest sound I can compare it to is MGMT, but looser, as if MGMT had smoked weed and made an album. They also have more energy than MGMT, there’s more brightness in their sound to go along with the previously mentioned message. There’s a certain slide guitar sound effect that evokes the beach and surfers that is used a couple of different times, for example. This album is hard to classify (“psychedelic pop” perhaps), but that’s part of its charm.

5/5 I debated whether to give this album a four or a five, and decided on a five because I think the album’s message is an important one, for me just as much as anyone else. I could see myself loving this in High School, where one message I would have loved to hear is “It’s All Good.” Probably wouldn’t have taken it to heart, but would have enjoyed it all the same. I don’t think I’m alone there. In the words of the band “just relax” and try being a prawn for a bit.