Review of Prairie Scout @ the buskirk-Chumley
by: Julien Mason, Artwork: Kamila Czebotar
It’s not often that you hear about a band, listen to their album, and then get to see them play that album the same night. Not for me, anyway. But that was my experience with the band Prairie Scout, and it was worth writing about, to say the least.
Getting home after hearing about the show and listening to the first few tracks of “What’s Ahead Is Behind Me” — the debut album — I settled in with my coffee and a snack for a proper listen.
The lo-fi intro paints a picture of an after-class hangout session interrupted by a late spring rainstorm, which is nice, but not at all what the rest of the album delivers. Later that night, the intimate crowd at the Buskirk Chumley were in for something more than nostalgia.
Diving into track two, I noticed the vocals were upfront and impressive. They were smooth and enticing, while the rolling bass, precise yet rigid guitar, and restrained drums promised much more. Are the lyrics an indictment of monogamy, or just those of a realist with some questions about modern romance? All alliteration aside, I’m hearing Modest Mouse and Memory Map in the lead guitar work of John Hasey — and they’ve only been at it for about thirty seconds. Is this the single? I ask myself as I decide to go to the show.
Billy Fortune
The line-up was a bit ambiguously advertised, but I’m glad I got to see all three acts: Brick Lancaster opening, followed by the compelling duet from Cincinnati, Billy Fortune. The crowd was pretty warm by the time the four-piece group went on stage.
Natalie Ingalls, the lead singer and rhythm guitar–playing frontperson, has a comfortable and warm stage presence—friendly and inviting. Casually, she introduces the band and thanks the producers between songs. Skipping a lengthy intro (I think, since people were still lowly chattering), they get straight to work on “Am I Different, I Wonder,” promising to play the full album in order. The song immediately confirmed my suspicion that I was in for a treat. It’s a beautiful thing when a musical act can reproduce their studio sound on stage, note for note… when they want to. In tight timing, they took each track to a new level.
Natalie Ingalls / Prairie Scout
Drummer, Wesley Davis was as well trained and as badass as I’d hoped, with flourishes and fills in all the right places. The guitar squealed with passion and accuracy. Bassist Julia Fegelman impressively plays a fretless and provides vocal harmonies. It was quite a performance (and I don’t even like live music half the time).
As performers often do, Natalie intermittently cast her gaze upward toward the rigging. I wondered if she was centering herself or, when fluttering her eyelashes with a sweet smile, trying to melt a few hearts? Or something else. None of my business, really. Then, halfway through the set on the song “Ivy” (a point in the album I had earlier thought to be dangerously downbeat), she lets out one of the most authentic and terrifying screams I’ve ever heard. It harmonizes so perfectly with the guitar that it’s difficult to tell which is which, and I am reminded that she’s in total control—all that seemingly aporetic skygazing is just another tool in her toolbox.
Prairie Scout
Not since listening to The Police in the mid‑nineties have I so enjoyed hearing the same word repeated as I did with their track “Cyclical,” though in an entirely different way. The lyric describes, in a coldly comforting way, former lovers thinking of one another—but never at the same time.
Other songs include the catchy single “Honeysuckle,” the aptly named “An Absolutely Remarkable Thing,” and my personal favorite “Nerve.” “Nerve” hit home exactly as it was seemingly designed to, and as I sang along to the words I could remember, I couldn’t help but think that it’s times like these that I’m grateful for Bloomington for giving me experiences like this—and I’m looking forward to hearing more from Prairie Scout.
