Purveyors of lighthearted garage rock revivalism, the Prefab Messiahs formed in 1981 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Core members Xerox Feinberg, Doc Michaud, and bass player Kris Thompson, all then students at Clark University, brought in a rotating lineup of area musicians to help play their ramshackle art-punk in area clubs. Billy Brahm, Egg Al, and Tony Serrato were each considered official members at one time. The group released only one cassette, 1983's Flex Your Mind, before temporarily disbanding that same year.

Nothing more was heard from the band until 15 years later when a selection of live recordings and demos was put out by Desperately Happy. The 1998 Devolver compilation contained over an hour of previously unreleased material, all recorded in the early '80s. The band then reunited occasionally for special events, including the local Wormtown Anniversary Bash in 1998, 2003, and 2008. In early 2011, Almost Ready Records released a 7" single with two songs from Devolver, "Frank Kafka/Prefab Sun," and later that year, Fixed Identity issued Peace Love Alienation, a collection of eight songs remastered by Jay Rajeck (TRS-80).

In June of 2012, the Prefab Messiahs got together with Bobb Trimble for a four-date 30th anniversary tour of Massachusetts and New York. Inspired to give it another go, the trio added Ned Egg to the lineup and, for the first time in three decades, hit the studio with new material in 2013. Meanwhile, Burger Records reissued Devolver on cassette before partnering with Kylam Records to release 2015's Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive, eight tracks of garage/psych-pop in vogue at the time among bands like Thee Oh Sees and Ariel Pink. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi