History Music / Prozzak

A farewell tour is set to begin in November of 2019.

The act's first two albums, 1998's ''Hot Shot'' and 2000's ''Saturday People'', were very successful in Canada upon release, after which they had a huge ScheduleSlip, save for the title song to the Creator/DisneyChannel movie ''Film/GetAClue'' where they were credited as Simon & Milo. They eventually returned in 2005 with the widely ignored ''[[DarkerAndEdgier Cruel Cruel World]]''.

After recording one more song for the Canadian children's show "Roll Play," the duo went on hiatus, with Levine recording under the name Today Kid and [=McCollum=] serving as Music/NellyFurtado's touring guitarist.

The band reunited in 2015 for the Atomic Lollipop festival, giving their first live performance since 2002 and debuting their first new song in ten years. A fourth album, ''Forever 1999'', an a tour to promote it came two years later.

* AnimatedMusicVideo

* FireForgedFriends: Jason Levine and James [=McCollum=] didn't get along when they first joined The Philosopher Kings and their relationship only became more strained as they were cramped together into a tour bus traveling Canada. A one-change agreement over their love of bubblegum pop brought them together to create Prozzäk, effectively bringing them closer together and making them TrueCompanions.

* FireForgedFriends: Jason Levine and James McCollum didn't get along when they first joined The Philosopher Kings and their relationship only became more strained as they were cramped together into a tour bus traveling Canada. A one-change agreement over their love of bubblegum pop brought them together to create Prozzäk, effectively bringing them closer together and making them TrueCompanions.

** Subverted with [[MisleadingTitle "Baby I Need Your Love (Pussy Cat)."]] It's actually about [[ShapedLikeItself Simon's cat]].

** The art and character designs for ''Cruel Cruel World'' were even more drastically different, completely overhaulting the colorful, cartoonie art of their previous incarnations in favor of a DarkerAndEdgier [[DeliberatelyMonochrome sepia-toned]] look to reflect the album's bleaker music. The designs also more closely caricatured Jay and James to how they appeared circa 2005. From this point on, all of the band's videos were animated in AdobeFlash rather than traditionally.

* ArtEvolution: The first two albums featured similar character designs, but ''Hot Show'' had pastel-colored artwork while ''Saturday People'' was colored digitally. The video for the Disney-produced "Get A Clue" featured a much more conventionally attractive Milo, doing away with his squinty eyes and big lips. ''Cruel Cruel World'' deliberately looks [[DeliberatelyMonochrome nothing like any of their previous incarnations]]. Specifically, they actually [[InkSuitActor look like the musicians playing them]]. Most of the artwork from their 2010s work is a return to form, albeit slightly cruder, as it's drawn by fans now that Jay and James don't have much of a budget to work with.
** The music videos had progressively better animation.

* BilingualBonus: "Usted Es Muy Loco."[[labelnote: Translation]]"You're crazy."[[/labelnote]]
** Doubles as StealthInsult.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: ''Ready Ready Set Go'' was released under the name Simon and Milo because Disney was uncomfortable having an act on their label that was a drug reference. Why they also left in the profanity in "Sucks To Be You," the opening line about sexual frustration in "Strange Disease," or the duo's answering machine announcing "You've reached the Prozzäk compound" in the intro to "It's Not Me It's You" is a mystery.
** Arguably, the worst part is that prozac is not even an illegal drug.
* CallBack: "Tsunami" has one to "Europa":

* CerebusRollercoaster: Their earlier work got progressively happier until ''Cruel Cruel World'' did a '''hard''' 180. When that didn't pan out, the band eventually made a return to form in 2017 with the lighter stuff.
* CharacterDevelopment: On "Sleep With Myself," Simon laments how intimacy is losing to the digital age ("Fax machines, computer screens/Seems like love is something of the past"). "Love Me Tinder," released nineteen years later, seems to depict him as having finally embraced internet-based relationships.

* ConspicuousCG: All of the videos for the ''Saturday People'' singles had this.

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The artwork for ''Cruel Cruel World''.
** Same goes for the mythology surrounding the album, which states that Simon & Milo have "wound up in a colorless world where love may not exist."

* FireForgedFriends: Jason Levine and James McCollum didn't get along when they first joined The Philosopher Kings and their relationship only became more strained as they were cramped together into a tour bus traveling Canada. A one-change agreement over their love of bubblegum pop brought them together to create Prozzäk, effectively bringing them closer together and they're now the best of friends.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Simon & Milo.
** Jason Levine & James [=McCollum=], also.
* InkSuitActor: Zig-zagged. The designs of Simon & Milo take some physical traits of the two musicians playing them, but don't really look like them.
** Their designs on ''Cruel, Cruel World'' more closely resemble them.

* IntercourseWithYou: "Shag Tag (You're It)" and "When I Think Of You."
** "Sleep With Myself," as the title suggests, is this trope's antithesis.
** Subverted with "Baby I Need Your Love (Pussy Cat)." It's actually about [[ShapedLikeItself Simon's cat]].

* LighterAndSofter: ''Saturday People'' is MUCH happier than ''Hot Show.''

* LimitedWardrobe: Played straight with Milo, but Simon actually has two primary outfits. He's primarily shown with a suit and tie, but also in "Saturday People" he has a T-shirt with long sleeves underneath.

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Simon currently has this in the form of his cat Miles, whom he showers with affection after breaking off his engagement. The unwanted attention causes Miles to run away one night. This serves for the basis of "Baby I Need Your Love (Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat)."

* LyricalDissonance: "Monday Morning" is a rave song about finding out that your best friend died.

* MeaningfulName: When recording the first album, a friend of Levine's noted how much the process was helping him cope with his depression, as if the music was "like an antidepressant." Levine though this was AGoodNameForARockBand.
** Their label, Left Hook Music, is named after an incident where James got mad at Jay and punched him in the jaw.

* ShirtlessScene: Milo uses his shirt as a bullfighting cape in the music video for "Europa."

* TruckDriversGearChange: "Be As," "www.nevergetoveryou," "You Don't Love Me That Way," "Infatuation."
** "Get A Clue" does this in reverse.
** "It's Not Me, It's You" has two.

In 2015, the group reunited for the Atomic Lollipop festival, giving their first live performance since 2002 and debuting the new single "[[https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/baby-i-need-your-love-pussy/id1031443923 Baby I Need Your Love (Pussy Cat)"]]. Their fourth album, ''Forever 1999,'' saw a digital release at the tail end of March 2017, preceded by the video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DemnjZlANsY "Love Me Tinder"]].

* ''Ready Ready Set Go'' (as [[SameFaceDifferentName Simon & Milo]]) (2002)[[note]]Technically a GreatestHitsAlbum, the only new song being "Get A Clue"[[/note]]

* TropaholicsAnonymous: [[http://www.aux.tv/2016/06/premiere-listen-to-prozzaks-new-song-love-fools-anonymous/ "Love Fools Anonymous"]].

In 2015, the group reunited for the Atomic Lollipop festival, giving their first live performance since 2002 and debuting the new single "[[https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/baby-i-need-your-love-pussy/id1031443923 Baby I Need Your Love (Pussy Cat)"]]. Their fourth album, ''Forever 1999,'' saw a digital release at the tail end of March 2017, preceded by the video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DemnjZlANsY "Love Me Tinder."]]

* ADateWithRosiePalms: The opening line from "When I Think Of You."
--> "When I get this feeling down below / I lock the bathroom door"

* ArtShift: The artwork for ''Cruel Cruel World'' drastically redesigns the characters from charming and cartoonie to graphic and moody, with the only colors being [[DeliberatelyMonochrome black and]] [[RealIsBrown brown]]. The album's only promo video, "When I Think Of You," was the only one not to be traditionally animated, and was instead [[UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash Flash-animated]].

* ConspicuousCGI: All of the videos for the ''Saturday People'' singles had this.

* CrossdressingVoices: Jason Levine sings the female parts on "Strange Disease" and "Wild Thing/Poor Boy" in a falsetto.

* EasilyForgiven: From being at one another's throats to forming a band within a matter of seconds [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext after a time warp]].

* IJustWantToBeLoved: "I Want To Be Loved."

* ReallyGetsAround: Simon. {{Lampshaded}} in "Sleep With Myself."

* TheSilentBob: Milo, save for [[StepUpToTheMicrophone "I Like To Watch" and "Feed The Night."]]

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Milo. {{Lampshaded}} in the video for "Be As" where his tag at the UN lists him as "Somewhere in Europe."

* ShoutOut: The skit that precedes "Introduction To A Broken Heart" has Milo telling Simon about how, once he finds true love, they'll [[OfMiceAndMen buy that ranch that they always talk about]].

After recording one more song for the Canadian children's show "Roll Play," the duo went on hiatus, with Levine recording under the name Today Kid and [=McCollum=] serving as NellyFurtado's touring guitarist.

''"To Prozzak's TVTropes Page."''\\

* CharacterDevelopmen: On "Sleep With Myself," Simon laments how intimacy is losing to the digital age ("Fax machines, computer screens/Seems like love is something of the past"). "Love Me Tinder," released nineteen years later, seems to depict him as having finally embraced internet-based relationships.

[[caption-width-right:269:Hey Simon, [[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow where's your f'ing]] [[NoNeckChump neck]]?! Right: Simon, Left: Milo]]

[[quoteright:269:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mi0001424620_8399.jpg]]

* GenreRoulette: ''Forever 1999'' is probably the band's most eclectic album, featuring bubblegum pop and faux-Europop reminiscent of their first album, but also EDM, a millennial youth anthem, and a Music/{{Rihanna}}-esque sex jam.

* GenreRoulette: ''Forever 1999'' is probably the band's most eclectic album, featuring bubblegum pop and faux-Europop reminiscent of their first album, but also EDM, a millennial youth anthem, and a Music/{{Rhianna}}-esque sex jam.

** Jason Levine & James McCollum, also.

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Hot Show'' was primarily Europop with the occasional psychedelic rock song; ''Saturday People'' moved more towards pop/rock and rave; ''Cruel Cruel World'' was electro-indie; and ''Forever 1999'' is straight EDM.

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Levine and McCollum both consider themselves technicians rather than performers. That said, it's clear that Levine does more of the creative work while McCollum handles more instrumentation.

The ''actual'' story behind the band lies with a different duo, Jason Levine and James [=McCollum=], formerly of the neo-soul group The Philosopher Kings. Despite not getting along, they both agreed that they did not like the direction in which the band was going. Their proposal for a more traditional pop sound came in the form of "Europa," which Levine sang in a broad English accent. The rest of the band turned it down, but liked it and suggested that the two of them strike out on their own, with Prozzäk being the result.

* ArtEvolution: The first two albums featured similar character designs, but ''Hot Show'' had pastel-colored artwork while ''Saturday People'' was colored digitally. The video for the Disney-produced "Get A Clue" featured a much more conventionally attractive Milo, doing away with his squinty eyes and big lips. ''Cruel Cruel World'' deliberately looks [[DeliberatelyMonochrome nothing like any of their previous incarnations]]. Specifically, they actually [[InkSuitActor look like the musicians playing them]].

** The artwork for their 2015/2016 singles ("Baby I Need Your Love" and "Love Fools Anonymous") is more or less a return to the original style, though with more realistic proportions for Simon.

* BandToon: An example of the cartoon ''being'' the band.

* CerebusRollercoaster: Their earlier work got progressively happier until ''Cruel Cruel World'' did a '''hard''' 180. Their comeback singles in 2015 and 2016 seem to be reversing this, and are lyrically and musically more inline with their first two albums.

* ConceptAlbum: All three albums have some sort of underlying theme: ''Hot Show'' is comprised of songs about specific girls who broke Simon's heart; ''Saturday People'' is a pseudo-RockOpera about the characters working their way through the young, hip weekend crowd of the UK rave scene; ''Cruel Cruel World'' is set in a CrapsackWorld devoid of love itself.

* CrossdressingVoices: Jason Levine sings the female parts on "Strange Disease" and "Wild Thing/Poor Boy" in an unconvincing falsetto.
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Cruel Cruel World,'' when compared with the first two albums.

* IJustWantToHaveFriends: "I Want To Be Loved."

* InformedAttractiveness: Milo's original design is ripped, but his face is [[{{Gonk}} pretty disturbing]].

* LimitedAnimation: 2017's "Love Me Tinder" video. Even fans excited to see them again noted that the video doesn't have the same budget of the old days.

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Hot Show'' was primarily Europop with the occasional psychedelic rock song; ''Saturday People'' moved more towards pop/rock and rave; and ''Cruel Cruel World'' was electro-indie.
** Their two comeback singles so far, "Baby I Need Your Love" and "Love Fools Anonymous" are a return to their roots with different varieties of 2010s synthpop. The former is more electro-rock with Daft Punk-esque vocal effects, and the latter is electronica-infused dancepop.

* NonIndicativeTitle: None of their songs have anything to do with drugs.

* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: As mentioned above, in 2015, Jason Levine and James [=McCollum=] got an invitation to be Prozzak once more at the Atomic Lollipop festival in Toronto. Jason Levine [[https://www.ourlondon.ca/whatson-story/7215390-prozz-k-back-in-the-spotlight-and-feeling-the-love/ admitted]] he had to be dragged into doing it, not confident that the music would hold up. The crowd was, let's say, considerably larger than they'd anticipated, leading to a full-time reunion that flourished in 2017.

* SameFaceDifferentName: ''Ready Ready Set Go'', a poorly-disguised attempt at an American crossover.

In 2015, the group reunited for the Atomic Lollipop festival, giving their first live performance since 2002 and debuting the new single "[[https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/baby-i-need-your-love-pussy/id1031443923 Baby I Need Your Love (Pussy Cat)"]]. Their fourth album, ''Forever 1999,'' saw a digital release at the tail end of March 2017.

* CanadaEh

* OnlyOneOutfit: Played straight with Milo, but Simon actually has two primary outfits. He's primarily shown with a suit and tie, but also in "Saturday People" he has a T-shirt with long sleeves underneath.

In 2015, the group reunited for the Atomic Lollipop festival, giving their first live performance since 2002 and debuting the new single "[[https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/baby-i-need-your-love-pussy/id1031443923 Baby I Need Your Love (Pussy Cat)"]].

[[https://citysightto.wordpress.com/2015/05/15/prozzak-reunion-sure-to-be-a-hot-show-exclusive-interview-with-jay-levine/ And a fourth album might just be on the way.]]

* ChristmasSong: "My Little Snowflake."