Minneapolis trio Prize Horse play pensive, moody posthardcore whose burnished surfaces and carefully structured negative spaces give it remarkable depth. On their first full-length album, February’s Under Sound (on Chicago-based label New Morality Zine), they telegraph their affection for shoegaze with thunderhead-size riffs that can blot out the sky. Prize Horse also sound like big fans of fourth-wave emo outfit Title Fight—specifically their brawny, sullen 2012 album, Floral Green, which provides a frame of reference for Under Sound. Prize Horse aren’t just following an earlier band’s blueprint, though, and they assert their identity in the details of their music: Jon Brenner dials back his snappy, athletic drumming to play a sparse and muted intro for “Dark Options,” for instance; bassist Olivia Johnson adds bottom-heavy heft and unexpected harmonic complexity to the chord progressions; and guitarist Jake Beitel sings with a gentle, sighing lilt no matter how noisy and turbulent the music gets. When all three members pull together just right, the calm moments of Under Sound land with the same force as its ferocious climaxes—a sure sign that Prize Horse have the chops to make good on the promise of this debut.
Prize Horse Greet Death headline; Prize Horse and Low Animal open. Tue 12/3, 8 PM, Subterranean, 2011 W. North, $17 plus applicable fees, 17+