For all the wannabe rock revivalists in Brooklyn, Public Access T.V. brings rock ’n’ roll back to Manhattan with a debut album packed with grit, gusto and the no-shits-given attitude a true New York City band requires.
Never Enough, the band’s debut album, is an introduction into the city’s new great band. In a borough lacking residential garages, Public Access T.V. delivers a garage-rocking debut that redefines the fusion between classic rock and modernity.
Only three weeks old, Never Enough, has a timeless sound that improves with every listen, an accolade that rightly makes it the debut album of the year.
From the start, each song is synonymous for a catchy beat. The second track, “Evil Disco,” has a '70s guitar riff and chorus with a crisp 2016 sound. “Summertime,” the following tune, has a methodical, dragging beat with happy lyrics about not fooling around with a woman anymore, curbing the wasteful cash and time spent.
“I Don’t Wanna Live in California” has a Strokes feel that would make the late Lou Reed smile. Singing, “I don’t wanna live in California / I take New York any day,” it’s the best song in recent memory about the city.
The fifth song and lead single, “End of an Era,” has an early '80s vibe with synthesizers poking fun the current music scene: “They say the kids don’t like rock ’n’ roll anymore.”
It’s the perfect song to sum up indie rock in 2016.
Never Enough doesn’t exactly sound like anything new, but it doesn’t have to. More importantly, it sounds fun — and good.
Influences (Velvet Underground, Tom Petty, The Strokes and Oasis) are noticeable but not overpowering.
“In Love and Alone,” a song on the second side of the album, sounds like a rocked-out version of the reggae tune “You Can Get It If You Really Want” by Jimmy Cliff.
The fact is, with every listen, this 12-song, 38-minute record sounds better. That’s an impressive feat for a band, let alone on its debut.
The album’s best virtue is its timeliness. Fresh currently, there’s sprinkles of multiple decades of rock converged into one.
Perhaps the biggest question will be its impact. There’s no doubt that Public Access T.V. is a great band, but will it get a great reception?
In some ways, it sounds destined to be a massive hit in the U.K. in Europe, while praise in the U.S. will slowly trickle. Credit to the group for beginning its tour this month in England. Hopefully that provides time for momentum to grow here.
It’s deserved. But by keeping New York-cool, maybe that’s what Public Access T.V. wanted all along.
Regardless, we just got a new great band with a debut that could — depending on its reception — be one of the rock debuts of the decade.
Maybe it’s the start of an era?
