Public Practice Announce Debut LP Gentle Grip, Share Single “Compromised” and Music Video

Brooklyn dance-punk band Public Practice have been a mainstay in the city’s local music scene for a couple of years, immediately developing a following after debuting as a group in 2018 with their Distance Is a Mirror EP. Now the band announces their debut LP, Gentle Grip, out May 15 via Wharf Cat Records, as well as sharing the single “Compromised” along with a music video featuring frontwoman Samantha York.

“Compromised” is classic Public Practice—new-wave leanings, an infectiously catchy bass line and smart, captivating lyrics penned by York.

“‘Compromised’ deals with the moral gymnastics that many of us struggle with daily just to be a human in this world,” says York in a statement. “How do we balance our desire for material pleasures with our need to be seen as moral and good? What’s more important, the shoe or where it came from? How it was made or how it looks? I am no shining example and I struggle with this constantly.”

The music video, directed by Josie Keefe and Jonny Campolo, features stills from vintage women’s magazines, contrasted by York in all black, with blood-red nails and bright, funky lipstick colors. York seems to be collaged with herself and the magazine clippings, her lips singing along to the lyrics while disembodied from her own face, sometimes in rows of contrasting lip colors, almost evoking a Brady Bunch title sequence aesthetic.

Of the music video, Keefe and Campolo say that it was “inspired by luscious lips, dazzling eyes and manicured hands of the past, we recreated layouts, postures, and makeup techniques from vintage cosmetic advertisements. The video splits the body into eyes, lips, and hands—bringing the artwork of Public Practice’s music to life.”

The stark black background of the music video also offers the possibility for illusion, with York wearing a stage handler’s all-black getup in order for her hands to appear as if they’re disconnected from the rest of her body, her torso and arms blending into the background. It appears that the beauty of York’s nails, lips and eye make-up compromise the singer’s ability to be seen in full.

Watch the video for “Compromised” below, and scroll further to see the details of Gentle Grip, and Public Practice’s upcoming East Coast and U.K. tour dates. You can preorder the album here

Gentle Grip Album Art:

Gentle Grip Tracklist:
01. Moon
02. Cities
03. Disposable
04. Each Other
005. Underneath
06. See You When I Want To
07. My Head
08. Compromised
09. Understanding
10. Leave Me Alone
11. How I Like It
12. Hesitation

Public Practice Tour Dates:

March
13 – New York, N.Y. @ Bowery Ballroom w/ A Place To Bury Strangers (New Colossus Fest)
28 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Elsewhere w/ The Automatic and Shopping

April
04 – Jersey City, N.Y. @ White Eagle, w/ Parquet Courts
05 – Ardmore, Pa. @ Ardmore Music Hall w/ Parquet Courts

May
04 – Southampton, U.K. @ Heartbreakers
05 – London, U.K. @ Electrowerks
06 – London, U.K. @ Rough Trade East evening instore
07 – Manchester, U.K. @ Yes
08 – Leeds, U.K. @ Brudenell Social Club, w/ Bambara
09 – Glasgow, U.K. @ KNice N Sleazy
10 – Edinburgh, U.K. @ Sneaky Pete’s
12 – Birmingham, U.K. @ Hare & Hounds
13 – Bristol, U.K. @ Louisiana
14 – Brighton, U.K. @ The Great Escape