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Public Serpents

The Bully Puppet

Written by: MAK on 09/01/2024 21:46:32

Ever since the controversy around Stza, any music he has touched has had a cloud surrounding it, including Leftover Crack, Star Fucking Hipsters and Choking Victim as key names from the Crack Rocksteady genre. One saving grace would be that former members of Choking Victim for Public Serpents would allow any fans to appreciate the genre guilt-free. Choking Victim’s “No God/ No Managers” was released in 1999, and while Leftover Crack followed up very closely, they never were quite the same. Public Serpents however released the perfect follow-up a mere 24 years later with “The Bully Puppet”

Right from the start with “When Pigs Lie”, a cop-bashing ska-punk/ hardcore punk crossover track, littered with crusty vocals, a mixture of bouncy upstrokes and raw fuzzy hooks along with chirpy horns. The dirty sound core of the crack rocksteady genre. “Armageddon Stomp” follows up by balancing reggae-dub style rhythm in the verse with harder-hitting riffs and throat-tearing vocals in the chorus. Certain gruff vocal characteristics from the Choking Victim album come out, hitting with a wave of nostalgia.

“Not Forever” chimes in with one of the most fun songs of 2023, a brass-fueled ska punk frenzy to ska round to, yet it switches to another aggressive, shouty type chorus. The horn lines are so bubbly along with the buoyant upstrokes, it's packed full of dancing energy even with the not-so-subtle angst. “Farewell” comes in as the complete opposite, one of the most furious-sounding tracks on the album, a hardcore punk track with the expected coarse vocals and hard-hitting riffage. It’s as raw as it comes. Another genre throwback would be the higher-pitched elongated guitar tones layered on top of occasional upstroke hooks.

The combination of ska punk and hardcore influences flows fluently, it’s a lot dirtier and crustier sounding than your modern-day skacore. The more you listen to this album, a lot of these songs could be leftover Choking Victim songs, just with added horn, and maybe less prominent basslines. “We’re All Screwed” in particular feels like it would fit right in with the bouncy bass hooks, fast ska upstrokes and distinctively distorted vocals that are somewhile still quite melodic. It’s a pattern that barely shifts from the album apart from album closer “Spastic Plastic” that’s more of a synthy ravecore-inspired track from the likes Intro5pect and From The Cradle To The Rave. Electro synths with the same crusty shouted vocals. It’s not too out of place either. Something a little different, but a welcome twist.

Public Serpents is their own band, but it’s hard to ignore their influences and it’s quite fun to read into them and it helps the album thrive simply as “No Gods / No Managers” part two. The core elements are there, but the sound hasn’t evolved that much to differentiate the two. Nostalgia feels aside, this is a solid angry ska punk album on it's own.

Download: Not Forever, Farewell, Were All Screwed
For the fans of: Choking Victim, Leftover Crack, Atrocity Solution
Listen: Facebook

Release date 24.03.2023
SBAM records