Modern Convenience, the new EP from the Denver- and Seattle-tied punk rockers Public Opinion, available now from Convulse Records, is catchy as hell and warmly inviting in the way a riveting, live show experience sweeps in bystanders. It’s like you just can’t help but sing or fist-pump along, and there’s an implicit element of working out festering, old energy. Public Opinion accomplish that striking bit of real-world magic with soaring guitars, invigorating drums, and lively, additional components filling out Modern Convenience. You can get lost in the vibrant music—in other words, the catharsis works!
The not-too-fast tempo at which Public Opinion play on this EP means the group sound not-too-tense, either. When hitting play or hearing the band fire things up at a venue, you’re suddenly already in the place of relieving freedom evoked by the swagger of the journey.
It feels almost wrong not to move while listening, since Public Opinion also perform with a simply striking bit of power. It seems to pop; from the production style, which seems nicely in-your-face, to the construction of the songs themselves, Modern Convenience is exciting, like that friend who absolutely refuses to let you get lost in moping (not that feeling down is inherently suspicious). It’s just like a friendly splash of icy, cold water to the face.
Modern Convenience is undeniably intense, but Public Opinion temper things with trying to find the brightness of it all. The extremely melody-centered rock that has its cultural moments but is always around somewhere definitely feels reflected here, and in that, the EP is person-centered: you have space to rock out. The EP doesn’t sound overcast or lost. It’s more like firing up the lights on full blast and keeping the party going, even if that’s just you and four friends in a backyard.
Below, check out what Public Opinion vocalist Kevin Hart has to say about Modern Convenience.
On a broad level, how do you see the vibe here? What are some of the emotional themes that you think are swirling around in there?
Honestly, it’s obviously a more poppy record than any of the music I’ve ever really done before, while also still being kind of like a real grumpy, pissy look at a lot of things that frustrate me, especially that first song, “Modern Convenience.” There’s a through line, especially with the Pay No Mind EP that we did with Convulse (Records) right before it, where those were three angry songs. And then that (first song is) kind of a continuation of that.
The vagueness of the “you” involved softens it a little bit. But it is a very personal and frustrating take, you know what I’m saying? But additionally, on top of that, is that doesn’t carry through the whole record. “Sweets All The Time,” which was another one of the singles that we did, is just basically a love song, which I really, really like. I’ve never been able to do that before. Obviously playing in straightforward hardcore bands, that’s not necessarily a theme that we go into. But now that I’m playing catchy, poppy music, it feels less odd.
I really like that I was able to kind of do both. (Previously,) it’s all just been ragin’ hardcore, where I’m just yelling about whatever. So (we’re) doing more broad appeal. “Polite Conversation,” the last song on the record, is another song that’s a little bit personal about feeling uncomfortable being around people all the time. Which I think is more vulnerable than I would have been in a hardcore band.
Would you say that cultivating that more straightforwardly catchy and maybe somewhat more vulnerable vibe was something you intentionally set out to do when making this new record?
Instrumentally, yes, it was a conscious effort to try and do a little bit more catchy, a little bit more kind of like that 2000s garage rock revival; I think (that’s) very much so baked in there. A lot of major chords, a lot of bounce, and not nearly as swift as the previous material, trying to slow it down and make it more of a bop-along.
As far as lyrically, that first single, the angry single, the “Modern Convenience” single, was written before the rest of the songs lyrically. And so that was me being more angry, and then once the other songs were written, and I just laid my own lyrics over the top of it, there was an opportunity to try and not do that the whole time. It was an active choice to try and soften up a little bit. I never thought “Sweets All The Time” was even going to make the record when we recorded it. And I was like: oh, this is kind of the love song, and you know, how it turns out is how it turns out. But everybody was really, really big proponents of making sure it made the record.
And so I was really glad that the choices to be more vulnerable were celebrated by those I trusted at the time. Especially Ian Shelton, who produced (Modern Convenience), and then Phil Odom, who produced and recorded it, were both like: “Oh, this is the song—it’s OK to be vulnerable on this song. This is the one. This is definitely making the record, dude.” Like alright, I trust you guys. Let’s do it.
It sounds like Public Opinion are one of those bands where your personal interests in music and stylistic things really shine through. Would you say that’s right? Would you say this new record really kind of just reflects your musical personalities, so to speak?
I definitely think it exemplifies it. The exciting thing about this one, compared to the previous recordings, is (for) the previous ones I just wrote all the parts, like: this is the drum part, this is the bass part, this is the guitar part, that’s where you guys are gonna play. Whereas this one, we got to be a little bit more in the room and play them live as a band, and everyone got to add their own flavor to it, which is very exciting. The three boys that recorded the record all live in Seattle, and I live in Denver, so they’re not able to play all the local shows when I’m in Denver.
But one of the cool things about that is whenever I have a fill-in drummer, they’re like: oh, Brent (Liseth) really makes Public Opinion his own thing, and I think that wasn’t necessarily as evident early on. Whereas now he makes a lot of choices that I just would have never written. And that definitely comes through and is his own thing. The way that he likes to play drums.
As far as the guitars go, I know Sebastian (Stanley) and Antonio (Vargas) like ’70’s punk music, and they both like 2000’s garage rock, and it’s a lot of—kind of sassy guitar, I think, comes through a lot, which is very much so something that I know that they’re both interested in. And Sebastian specifically: doing a lot of walking bass parts is something that (is in) the music that I know that he likes; it definitely shines through when he does that. And then everything else I just kind of bring skeletally now. And it’s still, well, Kevin still likes The Stooges, and Kevin still likes Hot Hot Heat. So this is what the band sounds like, you know?
Would you say that for Public Opinion, the live experience is something that really sits high on the priority list for you?
Being a good live band, I think, is probably my number-one focus. As far as the people that I ask to help fill in, it’s not just kind of anybody. Most recently, we have my friend Devan Bentley, who’s in a bunch of bands over the last 10 years, fill in on playing drums. And we made sure we got to practice, we got it exactly where it needed to be. That stuff’s one of the big hardcore influences, I think, on the band stylistically, not necessarily sonically. But, like, let’s go with a big one; an obvious one right now is Turnstile. The Turnstile record is obviously good. But then you see it live, and you’re like: “Oh, holy shit, this is the band right now,” you know what I’m saying?
(…) Playing on these tours to places that we’ve never been before, like maybe people haven’t ever heard of us, or seen us, or heard our record or whatever, but then just killing it live, especially for smaller shows, or shows where we’re playing with hardcore bands, especially—It’s the most important piece.
Would you say there is a personal catharsis element in here? Is that something that sort of runs through the process?
Yes, definitely. If we can be totally personal, the specific “you” in mind when I wrote the “Modern Convenience” single is not something that bothers me. And I think that writing it, and putting it out, and having people like it, and then getting out from underneath that was huge. It’s a lot to write pissed off lyrics, but to have it actually make you feel better, and feel like you’re out from underneath the weight of something or someone is huge, and it was great for me. I think that there’s themes throughout the rest of the record that are still things that aggravate me, but (getting) out from underneath the thumb of that one is huge—huge, huge.
(…) And I understand that it’s probably loosely vague enough that anyone could take it and apply it to their own life, which I think is cool. But as far as the specifics for that one, anybody that knows the deal thinks that it’s cool. And anybody that doesn’t can’t imagine. And it’s open to interpretation, and I think that’s the best part.
More on the subject of the band’s environment, are there a lot of bands or music folks in Denver whom you find particularly inspiring, no matter whether there’s a one-to-one relationship with your music? What’s your experience with the local scene like?
Our record came out on Convulse Records, which is based out of Denver. Adam and Amos, who are two of the people that work at Convulse, actually play in the band part-time, and then I work at Convulse as well.
Convulse is definitely its own—it has cultivated its own thing over the last couple years. Namely, they did (2020’s) Punitive Damage seven-inch; they did the first Militarie Gun seven-inch; they went on to put a tape out for a band that I’m in with Ian, as I mentioned, and then Patrick Kindlon, from Drug Church and Self Defense Family, called S.W.A.T. And so they’ve had the local bands, but then the out-of-town bands as well. And a lot of homegrown stuff on the label, notably the band Destiny Bond, which is Adam and Amos, who I mentioned, and then a couple of the other folks that are around the Convulse camp playing in a hardcore band.
And just every cool thing in Denver seems to be associated with Convulse, at least loosely if not directly. And that is huge.
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Watch the video for “Modern Convenience” here:
For more from Public Opinion find them on Bandcamp.
Photo by Che Hise Gattone
