Great Scott. Wednesday night. Sound check bass notes and reverb vocals drift lazily around the dimly bar. Time for Public Service Brocasting, an electro rock duo from London who combine sounds of the past with futuristic music.
There’s J. Willgoose, Esq. AKA the guitarist/banjo/synth/MIDI/Macbook player dressed in a tweed jacket and big hipster glasses. Then there’s drummer Wigglesworth, (damn these names are so British), a perfect companion who knew when to smack and crash his way in and when to hold back. The setlist switched between low key ambient tunes to fast paced rock while old broadcasting audio clips acted as lyrics.
PSB do not sing. In fact they do not talk. Instead samples from the computer acted as a medium for conversation to audience. Purposely broken into poorly mashed phrases such as “It’s a pleasure to be here [pause, new clip] Great Scott!” it was charmingly unique and drew many laughs from the crowd.
The crowd. The crowd was interesting that night. There was a decent mix of +30 and +40 year olds thrown into stew and no one danced. A few heads bobbed and a couple shook to wobbling dynamics but overall, on appearances alone, it was an awkward sort of gathering. Like a cult or something. Many simply stood still. Maybe it was due to their devotion and appreciation for the grand showcase of electro beats and heavy metal riffs. Maybe it was due to the projected film of old newsreel footage in which each song had its own relevant video. Maybe it’s because they’re white. Maybe they weren’t drunk enough.
With such a crowd it was hard for the opener Kauf to make much of an impact. His music would be fine for the proper club or a trendy bar, but tonight, people hung out by the bar and no one danced. I felt weird. I kind of wanted to dance. But I was feeling ill and not intoxicated enough. Kauf’s live, reverb heavy vocals fit well in his set but I wished he had used his synth and drum machine more. Compared to PSB, Kauf music wasn’t as exciting or unique. It was good, but the steadiness did not break enough to make it seductive.
PSB meanwhile crafted a show that struck multiple chords of excitement and interest. The hypnotizing opener “Sputnik” continuously built on low key synth loops for several minutes as the video screen filled the stage with news clips about the world’s first artificial satellite and then the live drums broke into a tight climax with the guitar. Pause, cheers, change pace, more music. “Gagarin” rocked and contained dance-able funk elements with brass hooks while images displayed the ascent and return of the first man in space. Even with its catchy banjo licks, “London Can Take It” exhibited images of flames and destruction and firefighters against the backdrop of the Blitz. The performance was both inspiring and somber. It showed there is no glory in war, though there are many unsung heroes.
The beauty and ugliness of technology seemed to be the thesis of PSB’s night. Their latest album, The Race for Space, which dropped last February, is filled with audio clips about various US and Soviet accomplishments during the famous Space Race. Along with its emotionally stirring music, the audio and visual clips highlight the strange paradox that was the Space Race. Born out of mutual fear and distrust, with the need to out gun their opponent, the US and Soviets built machines that were designed for death and destruction. Yet these rockets also lead to the ascent of the 21st Century’s greatest frontier and broke down technical barriers.
“Valentina” was fascinating with angelic choral vocals from the Smoke Fairies and soared as it provided a sonic and visual journey of Valentina Tereshkova, the first women, and first civilian, to successfully fly in space on June 16, 1963. The amazing achievement of reaching the heavens was matched with a heavenly track. And like every song that, it two musicians simultaneously stopped on beat for a tight ending.
PSB’s songs go to show that not everything can be taken for face value. “Spitfire” simultaneously paints the WWII airplane as a beautiful accomplishment and a hellish demon. The upbeat rock song with the occasional dissidence honors the Spitfire’s ability to imitate the flight of birds and recognizes its awful power to rain down fire upon its enemies. Like how PSB music changes from post rock and to dance to funk, these conflicting ideas are promoted to rejected and back again.
By the end of the night, I would say PSB concluded on the whole that people have used technology to summit great feats and challenges in a wonderful way. As they finished on the inspiring song “Everest,” the idea is summed up that even with a lack of oxygen, the threat of debilitating frostbite and the deluding effects of altitude sickness, humanity must not give up on its search for new peaks of accomplishment. All night the electronic and live music took the crowd away, using old images and sounds to evoke new and exciting ideas. We may create machines of war, but that is not what should really drive us. The simple ability to discover new lands of beauty that spark imagination. As the song and the night ended the question and answer were given: “Why should man climb Everest? Because it is there.”