On paper, the concept behind Public Service Broadcasting sounds weird, and not in the ‘Oh, I should check that out’ way, but rather a ‘Meh, hipsters gonna hip’.
The band combines samples of dialogue from old educational and propaganda films from back when humanity didn’t know any better, and then lightly layer that over the top of a slew of indie rock.
However, the London duo of J Willgoose. Esq. and Wrigglesworth make it work harder than an extra in an Olivia Newton John video.
Every song on the album goes far and wide, stretching from Thievery Corporation influenced instrumentation on the title track, rushing 90’s British big-beat on ‘The Now Generation’ and vicious Britpop on ‘Signal 30’, a song that has a guitar line not dissimilar to something that could be found on a Blur track.
The way the band manages to tie this all together is through the phrase of ‘Public Service Broadcasting’. Without this motif, the schizophrenic nature of the album would have dissipated into a meddle of half-worn ideas, but with their catchy namesake by their side, the duo of Willgoose. Esq. and Wrigglesworth can’t go wrong.
Its unclear how well a concept such as old school film samples on top of a smorgasbord of musical influences can hold up over multiple albums, but for the time being, Public Service Broadcasting have done a fine job in terms of executing an album bursting with originality.
