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As I sit at my desk, a heat wave raging outside, the door open to draw in what little breeze there is, the dog slowly melting on the floor beside me, “Heal,” the new single garnered from Public Health’s three-track EP, Pain Girl feels like the perfect soundtrack for a day like today.
Made up, at least for the first part of the song, of gentle resonant guitar twangs and shimmering sonics, chiming riffs, and rhythms which, like me, seem sluggish with the heat, there are times when it sounds like the music is melting under the intensity of the sun’s rays. And none of that is a criticism; I love its creatively torpid and purposefully languid ways; they match my own on a day like this.
Despite being a Philadelphia-based concern and very much of the here-and-now, there is something at work here that reminds me of a particular thread of British, 80’s independent bands, Public Health sounding as if they are embued with the same delicacy as, say The Lilac Time or following a similar outsider pop track as the likes of Prefab Sprout. Both of which, remember, eventually broke through to the mainstream without changing their attitude and approach to music-making.
The rest of this sonic triptych, “Pain Girl” and “Swallowed You,” are more upbeat and driven, but “Heal,” for me, is the more interesting song. Take all three together, and you have a perfectly balanced sonic package. You should buy it. What’s the worst that can happen?
