By admin
Public Access Tv infuse contemporary Indie with 80s New Wave, then make a handful of great Pop tunes. That’s basically it.
With Catfish And The Bottlemen firmly poster boys of the, somewhat bland, post-indie revival, lesser-known New-Yorkers Public Access TV are currently doing something far more endearing on their new LP ‘Never Enough’.
Unsurprisingly teething with CBGBs edge and firmly nodding to 80s New Wave bands like The Cars, Blondie and The Heartbreakers (Tom Petty’s sort), Public Access TV basically write very decent Pop Rock songs. There’s a large, sometimes overwhelming, emphasis on the “pop” element here, occasionally skidding into feverishly positive, symmetrical chart-rock, teetering firmly on the edge of cringe worthy. Nevertheless, the crisp new-wave embellishments and indie growls give the LP the “edge” it needs to overcome the 5 Seconds Of Summer/1975 virus.
Cascading, jagged guitars spill over sweet pop melodies and innocent chord structures, stuffed with a plethora of catchy hooks and pleasing moments of instrumentation. They’re slightly geeky yet cool, laced with New Yorkish cynicism and arty sensibility. Predictably, they’ve supported both Weezer and The Strokes, perhaps respectively the embodiments of these two personality pillars.
‘In our blood’ starts the album with a straightforward presentation of their contemporary indie/80s New Wave concoction. It’s pacey, youthful and laced with jangly guitars and sweet, mellow hooks. “Just wait a minute” warbles lead singer John Eatherly, dodging serrated Catfish And The Bottlemen guitar punches. Second track ‘evil disco’ starts a lo-fi stones-y groover complete with Jaggerish yelps of vocalised sexual tension. The track morphs into a shockingly 80s Cars influenced pop tune. Tom Petty drums crack in the background, its very pop orientated, but it’s really well crafted – it’s light, free and safe as milk.
‘Summertime’ invites fuzzy guitars to some kind of sloppy surf party, there’s an anthemic pop chorus and hand clapping. It’s lazy, leafy New York boulevards and messing around in the fountain from a water hydrant in the “summer-t-t-time”. The track takes a turn with a rather interesting loaded-era Velvet Underground sounding middle eight with humming, bopping backing vocals and disco drums. ‘I don’t want to live in California’ starts like a shadowy Two Door Cinema Club/Vampire Weekend tune, there’s a super groovy bass line and then perhaps the most Weezer chorus hook never to be written by Weezer in ‘I don’t want to live in California….Duh Duh’.
Geek rock at its finest – dirty guitars, reminiscent of “Buddy Holly” from the Blue Album. It’s peppered with various electro sounds and actually a surprisingly nice guitar solo. This sort of music doesn’t tend to lend itself to shredding but lead player Xan Aird does his job justice.
In ‘End Of An Era’ hi-fi disco drums. Back up very Blondie/Cars breaks.“They say the kids don’t like rock and roll” but to be honest, I think a lot of kids are going to really dig this. Public Access TV do in fact do, a really good job of being accessible to a mainstream audience. So mainstream in fact, that the single actually falls over at the chorus, grazing its knee on a sharp, jagged and slightly credibility threatening rock with “One Direction’ written on it. It doesn’t feel out of context with the rest of the album, however.
‘Patti Peru’ is another slick, pop attack- Spotify call it ‘60s garage’ which makes me feel slightly ill. ‘Careful’ is a welcome break in the constant power pop with a slow, soulfully delivered ballad. Growling, impassioned vocals, dirty guitar stabs punching in the background. One could even compare the vocals to Shane McGowan. It’s a cool tune and executes a different style of song with PATVs New Wave sensibilities perfectly.
Another shoutout to ‘Remember’ where the band tackles acoustic guitars Tom Petty style With its Byrds-y descending riffs and bubbly harmonies. It’s definitely one of the better tracks on the LP and shows off what the band does best, it’s exciting and fun.
‘Sudden emotion’ is just a Great song and there’s not much more to say. I first heard it during the summer and it really excited me. The Gang Of Four/ Franz Ferdinand robotic groove, the mellow, Tom Verlaine vocals and clanging guitar. It’s pop rock songwriting at its best, the instrumentation, the chorus and song structure just work. It’s so much better than ‘Kathleen’ and its one of my favourite tracks of 2016. It optimises their band sound, interesting, honed, clever Pop-Rock.
All in all, it’s a very decent album, and I genuinely think the band will go far. There’re a few forgettable tracks in there and I’ve left them out of this review but above all, it’s an accessible, interesting and amusing 40 minutes of Music – yet there’s a problem. It’s a bit too Topman. It’s super pop and so polished that the aggravated scars of their punk/indie predecessors get worn away.
I attempted to resist the urge to compare this band solely to The Strokes but it almost can’t be helped. The Strokes did pop – “Someday”, “Reptilia” and “Last Night” are all pop tunes but The Strokes were raw, abrasive, and super rock n’ roll. Public Access TV have their own flair and mushrooming masterful ability to write a dazzling pop song but perhaps it feels like that’s all these songs amount to. They’re great at what they do, but you can help but feel that there isn’t a pre-defined ideology or reason behind what they’re doing, its just senseless Indie Pop, Great Indie Pop, but definitely senseless. To be honest, there’s nothing wrong with that, Public Access Tv aren’t trying to make a statement with what they’re doing, its ear-candy, and some of the best kind out there – that’s nothing to sneer at.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5SVW8b2rDU
