Prosperity Wallet

Electric Noose (2002)

Adam White

I'm working hard to fight back the pretentious rock snob that grows within me daily. I really am. Upon first listen this band immediately set off my "ugh… screamo" alarm and started a quite negative review in my head. I think that alarm may be getting too sensitive though, because few listens later there's a lot that I like here. Out of my earlier mindset, Prosperity Wallet is a pretty solid Chicago three piece that show a lot of promise on their five-song "Electric Noose."

Musically the band shares many qualities with Michigan's Small Brown Bike in that they play busy post-hardcore with just enough of rock rooting to keep it buoyant. It's their ability to throw interesting instrumental flourishes into their songs that gives Prosperity Wallet an edge and kept me, someone with little patience for most things that get stuck with the emo categorization, listening and interested. The opening build up to the lead track is particularly cool. The songs (untitled except for a little sketch beside their track number) are long enough to make this EP seem closer to a full-length album (running at over 20 minutes).

Poor production unfortunately plagues much of the album. The vocals are mixed far too low and lose some of their potential power when competing with the rest of the band. It's unfortunate since vocalist Mark Baron contributes some great lyrics. However it's the strong rhythm section and well-executed (and sometimes unconventional) guitar trickery that sets Prosperity Wallet apart from their ever-numerous contemporaries. You'll hear from these guys again…