Sunday, November 20, 2016

Albums of the Year # 36 Public Access TV



Public Access TV's album from this year Never Enough is an odd object indeed. Just looking at its album sleeve gives you a very good idea of what its contents are and listening to it confirms those immediate impressions. Guitar driven New Wave Rock & Roll with every track building towards a punch the air chorus. Every single song! There is nothing, absolutely nothing, on here that you haven't heard a thousand times before. Frankly it would have sounded rather hackneyed if it had been released in 1979 rather than 2016.


So why have I included it on my list? Because there are so many hooks in each and every song that it deserves it. Although they're from New York, the band really take their lead from The Clash more than anyone else. And there was a band that understand the contradictions that a core part of their job was just to enable people to have a damn good time. Public Access TV do it twelve times on here and it's remarkable to listen to their ability to reinvent the wheel according to a slim but still wonderful construction manual again and again. 






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