Public Service

The Jacaranda, Slater Street

Reviewed by Alice Lenkiewicz

Public Service is a new upcoming post punk band that I had the pleasure of seeing in a live performance recently at the Jacaranda basement bar in Slater Street, Liverpool. Look out for this group. I was very impressed at the overall professionalism and fantastic vibe that this group created. They caught the attention and involved the crowd with their punky retro style. The music was kind of glam rock mixed with punk.

The lead singer - Nigel Harrison originally from Southport - led the group on vocals. His voice was unusual and catchy. A tall man, there was an uncanny similarity to Rotten and Vicious combined. The music was great and took me back years to the early punk seventies although it had a contemporary twist. The band had great stage presence and I enjoyed Nigel’s pogo and roguish anarchy style. The songs that really stood out were 'Attitude Problem' and 'Bar Room Brawl' which had elements of Sham 69 and The Sweet. The guitarist John Mellor was pretty good and had a professionalism about him that I haven’t seen for a while. Speaking to him later he told me that he was supporting act to Tom Robinson in concert and The Adverts and Sham 69 in the late seventies.

Now I knew why I enjoyed this band. Not only have they come out of the basement of the Jacaranda, the original venue of The Beatles, but they have something fresh and original about their music.

They offered me a promotional CD of their new songs which I played and enjoyed so much that I wanted to spike my hair up once again like I did when the Sex Pistols came to town in Plymouth in the seventies. It’s great stuff. I’ve put their CD next to my collection of The Clash. I think there is more to come from this band and I feel success is on the way.

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