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Public House - Future LP (Beast Records) review


How, how, how could I have missed a record like this?! How could I have let a juggernaut such as this go completely past me without my acknowledgment? Not an eye blink, not a head nod, nothing! It's like having a comet come from the sky and take out a huge chunk of the Earth, and here I am finding out about it all a couple of months later! Is it my age? Is it my newfound lackadaisical attitude that seems to have settled in with my old age? Wow, well no matter—the important thing is that I did catch it eventually. It is now a part of my life and for that, I am grateful.



Public House projects strength through rock 'n' roll music. Frontman Wolfgang Buckley (Stiff Richards) comes at us again with a baseball bat in one hand and a flaming Molotov cocktail in the other. If you are a fan of Stiff Richards, you'll definitely be on board for this as well. Public House seems to have a meaner trajectory than Stiff Richards, though. I am a huge fan of Stiff Richards—don't get me wrong—but I feel like SR has a bit more Lime Spiders in them. The music on Future has the hooks and the brutality to really command attention. Think somewhere between Puffer and Split System. Plus, these songs possess the charisma to get close enough to you to deliver the deadly blows you know you want and deserve. As rock 'n' roll fans, we should demand nothing less.

This is Public House's debut LP after a series of singles that were released insidiously into civilized society like envelopes of anthrax. It features ten songs of catchy punk rock seismic charges about repressive control, the many woes of society, and dystopian futures so bleak that they'll make even the most hardened Orwell readers shudder. Public House is definitely propelled by the ghosts of Australian rock 'n' roll. You can most certainly hear The Saints, Radio Birdman, and a dash of Rose Tattoo roaming above as you listen to this album. This is tough-as-nails rock 'n' roll that still finds time and space to celebrate the almighty guitar riff—something I feel is an essential ingredient to most rock 'n' roll music I listen to. Sadly, however, it's something a lot of newer bands are forsaking. That's probably why so much new music seems spineless and dull to me. Fans of ARSE and Pist Idiots will dance by moonlight in the Great Victoria Desert in celebration of Public House. I know I will—only my wilderness nocturnal celebrations take place in the Mojave Desert.

Public House are: 
Vocals: Wolfgang Buckley
Guitar: James McClurg
Bass: Brett Middleton
Drums: Eric Johnston

This LP was put out by Beast Records but is sold out at most places, as far as I can tell. I was able to find it at the great Green Noise Records. Happy hunting!  
store.greennoiserecords.com/products/public-house-future-import-color-vinyl

Listen or buy digitally at Public House Bandcamp!

Check out Beast Records on Bandcamp!