Hailing from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, The Publics have recently released their new single ‘Red Flag Verified’. Supercharging their sound with a ripping distortion across the layers of electric guitar, the group arrange a powerful atmosphere, with tom-heavy, pounding drums, and a vocal that works its way in between 2000s nostalgia, heavy rock and pop anthem. Though their stadium-worthy sound could be overpowering, the quintet managed to make it an infectious and absorbing banger.
The five-piece dive into the new single, ”Red Flag Verified marks a new chapter for us as a band and acts as the foundation for what we have in store for 2024 and beyond. When writing the track our focus was to push our Indie Rock style to its heaviest state, highlighting each members’ abilities but particularly our new members, Tom and Ollie, in the bass and drums.
The story of the single follows a group of girls mocking their once ‘friend’ for chasing an escape from their 9 to 5 life, where our position as songwriters' switches from the perspective of the girls to one of a narrator's view which adds greater details to the story and acts as a devil’s advocate.
Whilst discussing mature themes we wanted to approach the topic from a ‘school-kid bullying’ perspective, highlighted most notably in the ‘Da da da’ section of the song. This not only reflects our writing focus but also plays to the strengths of our audience participation within our live shows.
We knew very early that Red Flag Verified would act as a huge opener to our live set due to the immense energy in the opening to the single. We also hope that this will catch the attention of a wider audience of listeners as we enter the next stage of our careers.”
Selling out a headliner at Nottingham’s The Bodega, and supporting the likes of The Sherlocks and The Lottery Winners, The Publics have become acclaimed for their roaring performances. Bringing a sound inspired by The Killers, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Arctic Monkeys, the five-piece has breathed new life into high-energy rock at the likes of YNOT?, Splendour and Camper Calling.