Skip to content
Hi Sorry State readers! I hope you are all doing well! I was at a point last week where I wasn’t feeling all that inspired by anything I was listening to, old or new. Which is kinda weird for me. Then literally about 10 minutes after I said that to Daniel, I came across a record that instantly and surprisingly became staff pick worthy. I’ve listened to it several times, and it’s just a really great listen. It’s weird when you aren’t in the mood for anything and then you see something bright green to your left, throw it on, and really like it. Now that I think about it, the same thing happened to me last week with my Grazia staff pick! Something about me and bright green jackets, I guess.
Ok without further ado, the record I’m talking about is Public Interest’s Spiritual Pollution LP. This is the second album from the Oakland band, who seems to be the solo project of Chris Natividad (of the band Marbled Eye, most notably). The music is kind of dark, synthy, post-punk with really standout guitar lines. In fact, the guitar is probably the most memorable part of the music. The vocals are deep and kinda dark, but not as dark as an Ian Curtis, Peter Murphy, or Dave Gahan. But in a similar vein. But there’s a track or two where the vocals are dialed down, softer, dreamier, and even approaching shoegaze territory. For example, the song Burden of Time, which is one of my favorites on the record.
Anyway, this is an interesting album partially because of the length. Eight songs that total about 27-28 minutes long. I think this was a wise choice. If the record were any longer, it may have overstayed its welcome. At least for this particular style of music. Several times I had to “rewind” a song because I was being reminded of something I’ve heard before. I never pinpointed it, but I’m gonna go with parts of The Cure’s Head on the Door. A time in Cure history where the band poked their heads up out of the ground a little further, brightened things up, dialed down the weirdness, and made some poppier tracks with big exciting intros. I’m not saying this is that, but there are moments on this record where I’m reminded of that Cure era.
A great example of this sound, and my favorite song on the record, is Falling Ash. It has some really warm guitar tones with some poppier parts. The sound combines moody guitar riffs and bright, boppy, and melodic bass lines. It’s really easy to get lost in the masterful guitar lines. Falling Ash is just a damn sexy song. I don’t want to oversell it, so I feel the need to qualify some of my opinions, which is stupid. There’s no right or wrong here.
I think if it weren’t for the well-timed brighter tones peppered into the music, the songs would fall a little flat. And yeah, it’s a little synthy, and there are some random weird noises in the background, but the takeaway from this record for me is definitely the guitar lines. When I read somewhere that the record was “dark synthy post-punk”, I was expecting it to sound something like Poison Ruin (who I really like) or Powerplant (who I also really like). But this Public Interest record has a more accessible sound, and it’s catchier in a more straightforward way. Simply put, it’s not very weird.
I think if you like any of the bands I’ve mentioned, you would like this record. Or if you like Straw Man Army, and maybe even Home Front. Public Interest doesn’t have the anthemic, gang-style vocals that Homefront has, but the common denominator is that all of these vocalists sing in that statement-making style.
Maybe give it a shot? It’s a really easy listen. Ok well, I’m gonna wrap things up. As always, thank you for reading! Until next time!
-Angela