Women - Public Strain - Reviews

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100

The group's sophomore effort, Public Strain, pushes forward in both directions-- the hooks are noisier, the noise is hookier, and both are fogged over with enough reverb to make Felt records seem bone-dry by comparison.

So no, Public Strain isn’t the manic, dirty opus Women was. But it’s still Women. And I’m still in love with it.

Yes, it’s fine to use the same methods Mr. Reed implemented, but to dole out several minutes of junk noise doesn’t make you seem unique, clever, or even like students of the game; it makes you sound pretentious.

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TOP 50 TRKS 2020 OUT NOW

If you think this is boring you haven't given it enough listens.

TheTourist90

I hate women 😎

5mo

amygoodall

good

Houdanny

Has some great noisy and atmospheric moments, but I wish that there was ultimately more than a lot of the boiler plate post-punk that a lot of this album has going for it. Eh, kinda underwhelmed considering its acclaim, though I do still enjoy a bulk of this.

Standout: Narrow with the hall
Favs: Locust valley, Drag open, Can’t you see, China Steps, Eyesore
Least fav: Penal colony

19h

andiov

I've yet to hear a post-punk record from the past decade as hypnotizing and unique as Public Strain. While more recent post-punk acts like IDLES and Protomartyr put more focus into brash lyricism with some wild instrumentation here and there, Women differed in that there was way more focus on the noisy instrumentation that has a shoegazy, lo-fi type feel to it that only Women's ex members, Preoccupations and Cindy Lee, have ever managed to effectively recreate but never to the degree this album ... read more

5mo

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