In 2012, writer Dave Weigel examined the bygone 1970s “prog” genre — best embodied by sprawling music made by bands like Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes — with a question. “Wasn’t this where music was supposed to go?” he asked in “Slate.”
More than a decade later (and a half-century removed from the genre’s heyday), a new ambitious song from local group The Dirty Pennies checks more than a few prog boxes. To be clear, this is a great thing.
“Bee Sting,” in its nearly seven-minute runtime, crackles with electricity. It sounds urgent, mildly psychedelic and innately understands the power of instrumental dynamics. It also conveniently rocks.
Ryan Klem opens with some pretty guitar picking, leading into a high-energy drum beat from Lucas Howe locked into rhythm with Sean Doohan on bass. But the real star of the show is Doug Kelley’s keyboard and synthesizer setup, which has an iridescent moment at the 3:18 mark that feels like a musical espresso shot.
“Bee Sting” hews closer to accessible pop music than the group’s previous experiments, like 2023’s “Head Open,” and its past catalog of stoner garage rock. This makes it brighter, more immediate and commanding of attention.
Somewhere around the time of punk’s arrival, “prog” became a dirty word, or maybe just a signifier of the tryhard, and therefore, uncool. But prog is cool as hell. Trying hard to sound good, and doing so, is cool. “Bee Sting,” released in late August, would really go off with a laser light show accompaniment. That, too, is cool.
There is no shortage of psychedelic-tinged music made by regional acts around Rochester. But very little of it sounds as energized as “Bee Sting,” a tour de force powered by prog ideals and a yearning to be anchored in a world spinning out.
Patrick Hosken is an arts writer for CITY. He can be reached at patrick@rochester-citynews.com.
This article appears in Oct 1-31, 2024.
