King Prawn are an English

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially Horn (instrument), horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones ...

band founded in 1993. The band split in 2003, later reforming for a second run in 2012.

History

The band's formation was in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 1993. The first major recording was '' First Offence'' three years later, produced by Martin "Ace" Kent of

Skunk Anansie Skunk Anansie are a British Rock music, rock band whose members include Skin (musician), Skin (vocals, guitar), Cass (bass, guitar), Ace (guitar) and Mark Richardson (musician), Mark Richardson (drums). Skunk Anansie formed in 1994, disbanded ...

. King Prawn toured regularly with a broad range of bands, varying from

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

to traditional and

2 Tone Two-tone, two tone, or 2 tone, etc., may refer to: Audio and sound * Second-order intercept point#Two-tone analysis, Two-tone analysis, in nonlinear system measurement * Two-tone attention signal * Two-tone Warning chime, chime, such as the "ding ...

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

bands. The band called time on their first incarnation in 2003.

Hiatus

After the band split,

Babar Luck Babar Luck is a songwriter and musician based in the UK. Born in Pakistan in 1970 he moved to London at the age of eight years and was educated in East London He is known for his ‘unique’ personality and contradictory views. Background Fo ...

, the bass player, started to perform under his own name. In 2006, he release the album ''Care in the Community,'' and has since released several solo and collaborative recordings. In the summer of 2007, Al Rumjen joined

Asian Dub Foundation Asian Dub Foundation (ADF) is an English electronic music band that combines musical styles including rap rock, dub, dancehall, ragga, ReggaeEDM, and South Asian music. The group also includes traditional rock instruments such as electric bas ...

as their new vocalist. His first performance as a member of Asian Dub Foundation was at The Womad Festival in Singapore and his first album with the band was '' Punkara''.

Reformation

In 2012, the band reformed and played festivals and a club tour. They featured an extended brass section with a keys player, but without

. In 2013, the band played at Boomtown Festival and Reading & Leeds Festivals and completed a UK tour in November 2013. The band released two tracks on the

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

platform in 2014. A fifth LP was released in April 2019 called ''The Fabulous new sounds of ...'' on

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...

. In 2020, the band released two singles and started work on their sixth album.

Awards

They were nominated for a ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'' award in 1998 for Best New British Band, and in 2000 for Spirit of Independence.

Style

King Prawn blend elements of

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

, dub,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

, and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

into their music, which they dub "wildstyle". In 2016, Jones stated that

The Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Fl ...

Crass Crass was an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977 who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestyle, and a resistance movement. Crass popularized the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, ...

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...

, and

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

all influenced the band.

Members

Current members

Source: * Al Rumjen - vocals * Nikolai Jones - drums * Devil Hands - guitar * Zac Chang - bass guitar * Dr Nelly - cornet * Alex Gordon - trumpet * Matt Dowse - trombone * Nick Horne - Keyboards & trumpet

Former members

(1993–2003) bass guitar

Discography

Studio albums

* '' First Offence'' - 1995, (extended EP, 2001 remastered & re-released) * '' Fried in London'' - 1998, (2001 remastered & re-released) * '' Surrender to the Blender'' - 2000 * '' Got the Thirst'' - 2003 * ''The Fabulous New Sounds of...'' - 2019

Singles and EPs

* ''Poison in the Air"'' - 1995 * ''Felled/Depths of my Soul"'' - 1997 * ''Not Your Punk"'' - 1997 *''Your Worst Enemy'' (EP) - 1999 * ''Day In Day Out"'' - 2000 * ''Someone to Hate"'' - 2000 * ''Done Days / A Solemn Man"'' - 2014 *''Rockas an' Them'' - 2020 *''New Vibrations'' - 2020

Music videos

* "Depths of My Soul" (1997) * "Day In Day Out" (2000) * "Someone to Hate" (2000) * "The Dominant View" (2003)

References

External links

King Prawn interview
{{Authority control English punk rock groups Third-wave ska groups Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom English ska musical groups British political music groups Rock music groups from London Golf Records artists Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups disestablished in 2003