- It’s hard to find a debut album rollout which has been so befitting of a band as Melbourne band Private Function’s new record St Anger. The name, a piss-take of the Metallica album of the same title, features a suspiciously similar album cover, and when Metallica tweeted asking fans their favourite track off of the original St Anger, Private Function responded with their debut LP’s lead single Talking To Myself. The pub punk rockers’ social media presence is just as great as their music, serving to amplify the provocative -albeit hilarious- antics in their music, videos and live performances. The band’s sound and songwriting come across as an amalgamation of the likes of TISM, Cosmic Psychos, The Buzzcocks and Misfits, resulting in their own unique style of depraved ocker punk.
The album’s full-throttle album opener White Lady Funerals considers the funeral services offered by the company, as vocalist Chris Penney declares: “I’m jealous of your death”. On the next track, the band powers through the verses with barely comprehensible, raucous, breakneck-pace vocals, before telling you in a chanted chorus to “shut up and give the man your bank details”. The two serve as a strong entry point to not just the album, but the band itself.
The lead singles are two early highlights, the catchy, punchy jam, Talking To Myself and a cover of the Midnight Oil track King of the Mountain, which is –unsurprisingly- much more violent than the original. The band takes a more melodious, pub rock turn on another standout track, My Bully Is Dead. “My bully is dead / And his brother is crying / And I couldn’t be happier” the anthemic chorus rings out.
Potentially the most provocative track on the album comes in the form of God Save The King Hit, which tries to reinstate the term in the place of ‘coward’s punch’. It opens with a heart rate monitor and the line: “Only a coward would act that way / But I’m a coward so it’s okay”. Herein lies something that Private Function does so effectively, though. Their portrayal of these exaggerated characters ultimately serves as a better affront to cowardly, violent tossers everywhere, than most sincere criticisms ever could.
Another highlight comes in the track Marco Chan, which features some of the best guitar riffs on the record, as well as infectiously catchy, chanted vocals. The bridge also features some unexpected, yet welcome, shrill, budget keys, which also make an appearance on the cut Process of Elimination. The track Am I In Love slows things down a touch and displays a variety which allows the album to remain interesting from front-to-back. Saboteur and closing track Assassination (And TINPOTS), on the other hand, are both ball-bursting, short cuts, with particularly pulsating drum performances.
With hilarious songwriting, some of the best punk vocals in the country, and exhilarating guitar and drum performances, a debut full-length like this solidifies Private Function as one of the country’s most exciting punk bands. Not only that, but if you consider the themes in their music and their presence on social media, a case could be made that they are the closest thing the country has to a modern TISM. The band sign off on all their social media posts with the slogan “PF still on top”. If there was ever any doubt, this album confirms that Private Function are, indeed, still on top.
- Jack Jones.