They’re not The People, The Purple, or The Propel Fitness Water. They’re The Prople and they’re back with a new EP even though their full length album Revenge is still pretty hot and covered in the blood of carnivores. As much as I enjoyed Revenge, Monorail Girl is an overwhelming piece or slice of punk. Should I call it a chunk of punk? I don’t know what the kids are calling it these days. Anyway, the guitars on this album are punishing in the best way possible and this all too short collection of songs (two of them are less than 50 seconds!) have left me wanting more.
As I’ve come to expect from The Prople, the songs on Monorail Girl are a mix of horror, deranged Disney World nostalgia, and other left field topics. The horror begins with the opening track called “David” which is about Alien: Covenant, naturally. Another horror track is called “Fruit Cellar” and the Psycho-inspired TV series“Bates Motel” is where it draws its inspiration. Bassist and backup vocalist Kari Frankenstein takes the lead on this one and it’s a catchy and incredibly depressing song, lyrically speaking.
Vocalist, guitarist, drummer, and general overachiever, Markky Karloff, gives the listener the most horrifying vision of all with “Muscle of Love”. It’s an Alice Cooper cover and even though it’s probably not about the shock rocker’s penis, my mind immediately goes there. Since it’s Markky singing those lyrics on this EP, it might be about his penis. But I suspect that Markky might not be into that stuff.
Last but certainly not least are the title track of this EP and a cover of “(There’s A) Great Big, Beautiful Tomorrow” to fulfill the required Disney quotient. “Beautiful Tomorrow” is a song that plays at the Carousel of Progress at the theme park. Lyrically, this is full of hope and promise but things quickly mutate into madness and despair, just like Walt Disney! Wait, what? “Monorail Girl” is probably the strangest song on there. I hope the sexual lyrics are a metaphor for something that isn’t sex, just like Walt Disney! Wait, what?