PUBLIC PRACTICE - Gentle Grip

The no wave of Lydia Lunch (“Moon”), the art rock of Talking Heads (“Cities”), so fashionable these days, the Patti Smith of her first four albums (“Disposable”), the danceable glam of glam-era Roxy Music around the time of “Love Is The Drug” (“Underneath”), the disorienting fusions of Madonna and Kim Gordon (“See You When I Want To”), the off-kilter proto-disco-synth-pop (“My Head”), the sensual detachment of Debbie Harry (“Compromised”), the Bowie of “Fashion” (“Hesitation”). These are just some of the many influences, drawn from rather different sources, that run through “Gentle Grip”, the debut album by Public Practice, released a year and a half after their debut EP “Distance Is A Mirror”.

As it happens, here's another breath of fresh air sprung from that tireless musical laboratory called Brooklyn, always ready to draw on the past to sketch out visions of the future — in this case looking not only to the history of new wave (on both sides of the Atlantic), but pushing further to embrace the glittering sequins and mirror balls of Studio 54. The blonde singer draws openly on Blondie, her name is Sam York, and she's shaping up to be one of the most credible upcoming sex-symbols on the alternative music scene. Vince McClelland, meanwhile, handles all the guitars and has kitted out a home studio to experiment with the rest of the band (the others being bassist Drew Citron and drummer Scott Rosenthal) on all the sounds they need, without the stress of renting a recording studio.

Public Practice thus plant themselves right in the middle of the new wave that, with the wind at its back courtesy of Trump and Brexit, is now linking London, Dublin and New York. A new era has by now taken hold, as so often happens at the turn of a decade, one in which "Gentle Grip" positions itself as a multicolored puzzle, blending disco and punk together. It's a record that offers an authoritative summary of the multi-stylistic abilities of a band with the personalities (and the chops) to make a mark well beyond the confines of the indie circuit. With the added bonus of knowing how to write a potential hit — an attitude not everyone can, or wants to, have.

Ride the wave of great music

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13/06/2020