I first heard Prostitute in my Spotify discover weekly playlist around the beginning of last summer and as an enthusiast of any kind of noisy or abrasive rock/punk, I pretty much immediately fell in love with their music. The incredibly energetic vocals and playing, combined with angsty yet introspective lyricism make for such a fun listening experience that continues to maintain your engagement. So a couple months when I found out they were playing a show in my home state, I immediately knew I couldn’t miss out.
Driving back to Iowa City from my hometown that night led to me being a few minutes late to the start time. Initially this had me panicking but I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a local opener, and at that one I’ve never seen before. Acoustic Guillotine is the longstanding band of Iowa City old heads Billy Mac and Pete R dating back to the 2010s. They’ve been veterans of the music scene since punk’s golden age of the 80s, and this was their late career project, a two piece bass and drum band. While some may raise their eyebrows at an instrument set up like that, I was both shocked and impressed by how well it worked. The bass essentially functioned as a guitar playing these deep and guttural yet melodic licks as the drummer kept a steady thrashing rhythm. You can tell the band had a natural chemistry and comradery together as they made casual jokes and banter, as two friends who’ve been hanging out and making music together for decades would. Which made me all the more happy to remember that their opening for one of the best modern punk back bands, and that they get to carry this torch onto the next generation.
As some space occurred between performances my anticipation continued to increase as I saw more and more people pile into Gabe’s. While it was relatively little compared to some performances I’ve seen there, it was impossible to miss the energy behind those who did attend. I continued to hear whispers about how good the band was and how excited people were. Finally at 9PM, they went on stage. With masks covering their faces, and an initially serious tone the band started with one of their most popular songs Judge, which kicked off the performance incredibly. The song has such a distinct sense of angst with its almost grunge-like vocals, sludgy guitar riffs and dragging slow paced drumming. The repeated lines of “I don’t sleep, I don’t eat” and “I don’t die, I just fuck” are as edgy as they are catchy as the song continues to ramp up in volume and intensity. This intensity was reflected by the audience as everyone became more in tune with everything the band was doing. And this wasn’t just a result of their incredible sonic landscape. Every band member had incredible energy and stage presence that rubbed off so well on the audience.
Photo via Tarik Krob
This energy coasted into the next song they played, fan favorite “M. Dada”. Which is likely their most thematically interesting track. Seemingly telling the story of a middle eastern child whose family was murdered by American imperialism wanting to gain vengeance. The lyrics like many of theirs are intentionally provocative with lines like “I’ve offered a beheading, my death, their wish” and the repeated “Wrapped in white women” but it plays in the song’s favor instead of feeling like a cheap attempt to be controversial. While punk music always tends to lean heavily anti-establishment, it feels incredibly refreshing and poignant to hear it from a marginalized group not often given a proper platform. Instead of ending the song on a centrist “love not hate” message, it instead allows the protagonist to revel in their justified hatred of anything involved with the country that destroyed their own. “Open fire on a crowd, here’s to the fool who made the bastard of a child”.
This level of insane musical quality continued for the rest of the show. The blasted out distortion of Body Meat, the incredible breakdown at the end of Senegal and the guttural screams in Harem Induction Hour all were equally invigorating as an audience member. Pretty much the entire pit broke into some mix of dancing, moshing or slamming as Prostitute just made it impossible for people to stand still. And this wasn’t just because of their music, between almost every song their lead singer Moe continued to plead for people to avoid the back and be actively engaged in the music. At one point saying “If you’re not dancing you support Israel”.
Finally the band closed off the set and entire concert with to this day their most popular song “All Hail”. Starting off with these distinct middle eastern inspired horns (a sound that separates them from many other noise rock style bands) and the paranoid screechings of “They come for me”. I felt the audience’s built up excitement finally explode when going into the chorus as everyone screamed along “I know, I know, I know, I know,” on repeat and the iconic “I’m the motherfucker who took down the towers”. It was by far the most energetic song on the set list and a perfect way to end the night off.
After getting some water to cool down and blowing my money on several different merch, I had a brief but really nice chat with the band afterwards about how music can be a voice for the oppressed. Being able to take the angst and emotional turmoil from years of the band members (many of which are of Arabic heritage) having them and all their neighbors be constant targets of both personal bigotry and harsh state oppression, and turn that very real anger into a musical platform is something that can be so powerful. Not to mention that these guys are phenomenal musicians and performers as well.
You can listen to their first and only full length album Attempted Martyr on Bandcamp and other streaming services. Or directly support them on their website. I promise you, you’re missing out out if you don’t.
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