reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » Public Record - Public Record

Hailing from Philadelphia, Public Record is a messy, funky and wide-ranging party band. Weaving afrobeat, dub, indie rock, spazzy post-punk, chunks of driving soul and an atmospheric jazziness into their sound, the instrumental sextet is hellbent on defying any strictures of genre expectation. And they certainly succeed. The 13 tracks on this self-titled debut evoke an ideology of musicians unwilling to chase a sound, and far more concerned with the alchemy of new creation. Whether it's the evocative, Durutti Column wispiness of "Heavy Ornament," the pounding, semi-Ethiopiques groove of "French Suburb" or the wiry attack of album closer "Comfortability," Public Record is as much about sonic bravery as it is about sweaty fun. - Jason Ferguson