Employed as CBGB’s soundman in the mid-80s, Tommy Victor had a thorough grounding in punk rock, metal and hardcore long before he put together hard-driving NYC crossover trio Prong.
An undeniably sincere salute to bands who helped shape his own group’s sound – Killing Joke, Sisters Of Mercy, Hüsker Dü, Butthole Surfers and Black Flag among them – Songs From The Black Hole is unlikely to mean much to anyone not already dialled in to Prong’s gnarled, existentialist world view, but it’s difficult to begrudge them this indulgence.
Not everything works – Prong’s brutish power isn’t best-suited to the more nimble post-hardcore stylings of Fugazi’s Give Me The Cure or the soaring melodicism of Grant Hart’s Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely – but Victor’s brooding, sparse take on Neil Young’s Cortez The Killer is a surprise treat, displaying a hitherto unseen sensitivity./o:p
