Public Interest: Between 12"

Public Interest: Between 12"


Tags: · 10s · melodic · post-punk · punk · recommended · spo-default · spo-disabled
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This is utterly brilliant, amazing stuff - my ears are blessed. Nihilistic post punk jams with a generous serve of primitive electronics. The music is beyond this universe, the message is perfect for our times. 

 

The post and synth punk on the first public interest recording, hailing from Oakland is quite variable, e.g. Sometimes hanging out the cold synthwave sounds like another electrified variant of DIÄT and USELESS EATERS in a spacy abgroovemode. Or how would it sound like AUSMUTEANTS and PUFF if both bands took something seriously? 

 

To put it simply, what we’ve got here is something like an under-caffeinated Television Personalities, or a darker Wire who stumbled upon synth. Great synthpop songs delivered with just the right amount of damage. But just really vicious at times, too. I mean, these teeth are gleaming. 

 

Rolling down a hill in a garbage can. Each song is belted out with a short, sharp fit, with some synthesisers occasionally glistening out at the edges. The restraint is all the more fierce as it amplifies everything that's fucked about them. 

 

This is pure and damn good, futuristic Post-Punk. Warm synthesizer sounds meet minimal instrumentation that already reminds of a purified version of TOTAL CONTROL. Behind the mask and the project hides Chris from MARBLED EYE, which the sound alone suggests, with such a sensitivity for super-mature songwriting that would have been even ahead in the '80s, and especially now. Great! 



Our take: Debut vinyl from this new project out of Oakland featuring (or maybe even consisting entirely of?) a member of Marbled Eye. Marbled Eye’s recent LP showcased their ability to write a catchy post-punk tune, but for my money this 6-song debut from Public Interest is even better. While you’ll hear plenty of those memorable guitar lines that made the Marbled Eye LP so great, the songs here feel snappier, more concerned with generating a pop-inspired forward momentum than stretching things out and floating in mid-air. The angular synth lines and mechanical rhythms are a nice counterpoint to those fluid guitar lines, imbuing Between with an irresistible tension. If you’re a fan of Marbled Eye, Total Control, or Constant Mongrel, I highly recommend giving Between a listen.