Annie Zaleski from St. Louis reporting in. Y’all need to go to the Record Bar on Saturday night and see one of the finest exports from my fair city, Jon Hardy and the Public. This quintet sports dapper suits and beatific grins onstage, even though last year’s Spoon-meets-Elvis Costello song-cycle Working In Love is concerned with broken hearts and lost love, tales told from a bruised romantic’s point of view. But don’t take my word for it; writers from my paper, the Riverfront Times, say:
“The record isn’t the work of a Midwestern alt-country band; it’s the sound of blue-eyed soul in love with pop music, from the resonant chime of guitars, to the unflagging rhythm section to the horn section that blares hook after undeniable hook.” – Roy Kasten
“For a skinny white dude, Jon Hardy sure packs a lot of soul into his performances with the Public. The songs from last year ’s Working in Love drip with emotion and conviction, and Hardy channels his passion directly into his microphone. The band plays a mish-mash of Americana-influenced rock & roll and Motown-indebted pub-rock, and the members of the Public bring the same intensity to their parts. And if you happen to catch a show when the Public is augmented by a horn section, get ready for an evening of E Street-worthy rave-ups.” – Christian Schaeffer
Here are some MP3s for you to hear exactly why we all collectively freaked out.
