INTELLIGENT, exhilarating and moving, Public Service Broadcasting are among the most exciting British band making music today. In a world of predictable, stodgy and shallow commercial fare, the electro-alt rock collective fronted by J Willgoose Esq are doing something truly original, enlightening and technically brilliant. And they refuse to sit still.
Since appearing on the radar with the juddering electronica and soaring guitar of breakthrough tune Spitfire, they have taken listeners on audio journeys from the dark days of the London Blitz to the top of Everest, from space to the depths of the South Wales coal mines, and from the decks of the Titanic to the basement clubs of Berlin.
It’s been a sonic voyage of discovery in keeping with the mission statement of their debut album: Inform-Educate-Entertain.
No other band would attempt it, but then no other band could pull it off.
If any proof were needed of the band’s talent, appeal and relevance, it could be found in a glance at the audience who packed Oxford’s New Theatre on Sunday, where the eclectic crowd ranged from fresh-faced floppy-haired teens to seasoned gig-goers itching to leap out of their red plush seats and dance, and switched-on silver-topped chin-strokers.
Public Service Broadcasting at New Theatre Oxford. Picture by Tim Hughes
There was an air of celebration to the show. Frontman J has made no secret of the pressures facing bands since the pandemic and I suspect, for many in the practically full theatre this might have been one of the first few gigs since things trundled back to what now passes for normal.
And we were in for a treat, starting with support act Pale Blue Eyes – engaging Devon indie-rockers with an accomplished line in hypnotic reverb-heavy late 80s-early 90s spacey, psych-rock which nods to goth, shoe-gaze and drone rock. Definitely ones to watch.
Public Service Broadcasting are touring in support of latest album Bright Magic, a multi-layered, century-spanning sonic exploration of Berlin’s artistic life. While less obvious than their songs about war, trains, ships, space and mining, the band’s flamboyant (and for J, obviously personal) journey through ambient soundscapes, industrial rock, dance, and Kraftwerk-style electronica, is captivating and makes even more sense when performed live.
The show was elegantly structured, weaving groups of tunes from the same albums into mini symphonies.
After a trio of Bright Magic tunes, starting with the quick, sweet The Visitor, we are taken to the Valleys for three from Every Valley – The Pit, People Will Always Need Coal, and Progress – propulsive, uplifting stuff from the optimistic golden age of mining. The exuberant rock was accompanied by their trademark archive samples and striking visuals – all gleaming pit winding gear, grinning miners and National Coal Board publicity.
From half-a-mile underground we were blasted into orbit with Valentina – a gently soaring tribute to Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, brought to life with incredible footage of the Vostok pilot’s triumph. As I said, it’s an education.
From there it was back to the German capital, first to the end of the Weimar Republic with the shimmering, fragile Gib mir das Licht then indie-rock banger Blue Heaven – a tune, unusually for PSB, sung live. And beautifully at that.
They were followed by a brace of pieces from their high concept Lichtspiel triptych – a hypnotic quiet storm and J’s love letter to German abstract cinema.
Elegant it may have been, but by then we were craving something we all knew. And that swooped in, guns blazing, with Spitfire – announced in an electronic voice as “This is a song about a plane” as the ‘vroom’ of that 27-litre Rolls-Royce Merlin engine kicked in.
The celebration of designer R J Mitchell (tonight's only offering from seminal EP The War Room) is a real crowd-pleaser – soaring, pulsing electro-rock played against a backdrop of black & white footage from 1942 film The First Of The Few.
From the clouds, it was back to the pits – not underground, though, but to the picket lines with the punchy, grungy All Out. The ranks of police helmets and placards then gave way to a highpoint of the show.
The Other Side takes us to NASA Mission Control in Houston as Apollo 8 attempts to become the first craft to orbit the moon.
As the ship passes behind the moon all contact is lost. The tune and footage of the mission is a study in brooding tension which breaks into a euphoric explosion of sound as contact is resumed. An arms in the air moment.
Sticking with astro-rock, they finish on a high with the propulsive, grin-inducing Go!
But the best was still to come, with an encore alongside their punchy brass section.
First up is They Gave Me a Lamp, a rousing, jubilant tribute to the tough women who stood beside the striking miners.
Then, back in Berlin we were thrown into clubland for People let’s Dance. The effusive, electro pop stunner is the standout tune on Bright Magic and had the band – and much of the stalls boogying in front of pixellated 80s-style graphics of dancefloor groovers.
Catapulted skywards once again, we joined Yuri Gagarin on his pioneering voyage – the band joined not only by the kinetic brass section but a pair of full-suited dancing cosmonauts for the bouncy, pop-rock-dance banger.
The night came to a close in customary style with a trip to Nepal for Everest – footage of Hillary and Tenzing’s conquest of ‘the roof of the world’ set to a deliciously slow-building, sonic climb soaring to an exultant brassy crescendo.
And, with farewells and thanks to ‘Jack’ – without doubt, the hardest working guitar tech in the land that weekend – that was it.
We emerged into the rain, soaring melodies echoing round our heads, a bit wiser and a lot happier.
5/5
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