Melbourne’s fave three-guitar rock’n’roll power poppers The Prize have at long last announced the imminent release of their debut album In The Red on September 19 via Anti Fade Records in Australia and Goner Records in the USA.
The announcement and the new track follow the album’s previous two singles, “First Sight” which was released August 2023 ahead of their first European tour (with King Gizzard) and “Had it Made” which was released last October ahead of the band’s second European tour (with The Chats) late 2024.
The Prize made their debut for Anti Fade in 2022 with the EP Wrong Side Of Town which prompted global interest in the band. They began recording the album in 2023 but the international tours caused delays, as did the departure of original bass player Jack Kong in early 2024. New bass player Ethan Stahl (formerly of UK band Chubby and the Gang) came on board a year ago after Kong helped the band finish the tracking process. Initial album sessions took place with Paul Maybury of Rocket Science at his A Secret Location studio, with subsequent tracks recorded with Matt Blach of the Murlocs at Gizz Studios (following The Prize’s European run with King Gizzard late in 2023) and, in January of this year, with Robin Mukerjee of TV Colours.
The band, which features drummer Nadine Muller sharing lead vocals with guitarist Carey Paterson together with guitarists Joseph Imfeld and Austin Haire as well as new bass player Stahl, is known for its powerful three-guitar frontline and melodic twin lead guitar. It combines punk and classic hard rock with power pop and new wave and cites its influences as Thin Lizzy, Cheap Trick, Pretenders, Blondie, Rolling Stones, Faces, Flamin’ Groovies, Tom Petty, Dwight Twilley, Phil Seymour, The Toms, The Nerves and The Motors.
As a premium live act with the tunes to back it up, The Prize have regularly found themselves playing with legendary groups like the Sunnyboys, Pavement, The Stems and Guitar Wolf in addition to their pals in King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, The Murlocs and The Chats. Band members have recently started spreading themselves out into other bands as well, with Muller and Stahl joining Josh Hardy of The Chats and The Unknowns in Loose Lips, Imfeld in The States and Haire in The Judges and his own solo venture, Ozzie Hair.
