Album Reviews

My first and up until now only encounter with Public Opinion was last year’s 2-song ‘Heaven Sent’ single. A short and sweet release that tasted like more. A craving that has now been answered with the release of the band’s debut album, ‘Painted On Smile,’ out now on Convulse Records.

On the album, the Denver-based band burns through ten songs so catchy and energetic that you might not pick up on the lyrics, which are filled with self-loathing and self-doubt without ever tripping up over self-pity. At the heart of the lyrics penned by frontman Kevin Hart (no, not the one you’re thinking of) lies something the band refers to as the ‘curse of Kevin’.  “Sometimes it’s hard to not feel like I have bad luck that I can’t really get away from,” Hart explains. “For instance, we were supposed to play a festival a few years ago but had to drop it because I got Covid…at my mom’s funeral. That’s kind of quintessential ‘Curse of Kevin’ stuff–feeling like whenever something bad is happening, it’s actually about to get even worse.” 

Musically, the rest of the band - drummer Devan Bentley, guitarists Kevin Johnson and Brent Liseth, and bassist Sebastian Stanley - shines as well by somehow managing to mix up the energy of hardcore punk with the melodic stylings of early 00’s rock. ‘No Fruit At All’ for example winks at Bloc Party, while elsewhere they make you think of The Strokes, The Vines and even Third Eye Blind at some point. All executed with hardcore urgency. On paper that may sound like it shouldn’t work, but it does. And the band has no problem keeping your ears glued to the speakers for the album’s duration.

Painted On Smile track listing:

1. Drawn From Memory
2. Hothead
3. Some Don't
4. Stethoscope
5. Passes Me By
6. Chicanery
7. No Fruit At All
8. Dry Clean Only
9. Scene Missing
10. Wear & Tear