New Jersey’s Prawn is working hard to make 2014 its busiest year on record. It’s currently prepping the release of its sophomore full-length on Topshelf Records, but it has already dropped a handful of new songs via a pair of splits. The first was a co-release between Topshelf and Count Your Lucky Stars paired with Joie De Vivre; a four-way split on Fair Weather Records followed, uniting Prawn with bands of varying sounds from around the country. In the two years since Ships, Prawn has refined its sound, trusting itself to remain softer and subtler, often coming close to bridging the gap between emo and indie the way Death Cab For Cutie did over a decade ago.
The A.V. Club is premiering the video for “Laki,” a song from the Fair Weather Records split, which sees Prawn head to the beach. If anything, it’s proof that emo bands can avoid being overly serious and have a little fun for a change.