If I were to name a Band which keeps on getting better and better with every new track, then I'd definitely choose PUBLIC (@publictheband). Just like others, I found them through Make You Mine, but I stayed for songs like "4Her", "Heartbeating", "One that I Want", "My Love", "Pretty Girl", “Honey in the summer” (I have to stop now or else I’ll just keep going). I also once put them in caliber of singers like Bruno Mars, because every song these 3 guys make is just unique, banger and entertaining.
In August 2021, PUBLIC released another hit song "Missing you Today, your kiss is far away, I'm gonna hold you soon". Seriously, this happens to me every time, I just can't resist myself from singing the entire chorus of this song, it's just stuck in my head. So, as evident I was really excited about LDQ (Little Drama Queen) and the teaser the band shared also sounded amazing. So, did LDQ turned out as good as I expected or was it on the opposite spectrum? Let’s find out.
Till now in 2021, PUBLIC has had released 2 songs, “Missing You Today” and “LDQ”. Missing you today was more of a pop-love song whereas LDQ leaned towards disco-pop vibe and as usual, it didn’t disappoint. LDQ is the perfect song to hold and infatuate the new fans of the band who discovered them after Missing You Today or through Merrell Twins.
Every song of PUBLIC perfectly utilizes the talent of each member of the band, and Little Drama Queen is no different. The song starts with the combination of Matt's incredible Bass and handclaps beats which leave no stone unturned to compliment John’s vocal. What I’ve learnt from PUBLIC’s entire discography is that John Vaughn has a really versatile vocals and his vocal, here, really goes well with the theme and the pop-disco vibe of this song. The time the explosive chorus hits, you are already comfortable and jamming to this song but then Ben Lapps with his fabulous drumming skills gets involved and Man, does that add the extra energy to the song.
Lyrically, songs like ‘Make you Mine’, ‘Pretty Face’ and ‘4Her’ are still PUBLIC’s best. When Splash released in 2020, the only problem I had with the song was its lack of lyrics. The song was indeed a good one but I was expecting a bit more lyrics from it but in LDQ the band redeemed itself.
LDQ is about a liitle drama queen (huh, what? duh!). John here sings about how his friends are telling him to stay away from this girl because they believe she is destroying his life and is a monster underneath but he still keeps coming back to her as he states in these lines:
"She's a little monster underneath
But I still need
My little drama queen
And I can't leave
My little drama queen"
This song, at some points, also managed to give me kind of a pop-rock vibe. I really miss those old pop-rock/hard rock songs. Bands like Aerosmith, The Darkness, The Hives, Led Zeppelin, etc never failed to infatuate my love towards rock songs. Nevertheless, PUBLIC has tried to mix various genres in this song and this is one of many reasons, which makes this song so good. I can literally play the bassline and the guitar part at full volume for the whole day and still never get bored of it.
The Music Video of PUBLIC - LDQ (Little Drama Queen)
Music videos are really my thing and I genuinely love PUBLIC’s music videos. MVs of songs like One that I want, Make you Mine (especially the zombie version, because I love zombies) are best in the game. The Honey in the Summer’s video perfectly matched with the song’s summer vibe while the MV of Splash tried to do something different with its Heist theme. LDQ lies between these two, the video goes very well with the theme while presenting an interesting premise.
The video starts with the shot of a poster about a Talent Show which is supposed to start at 8pm. John and Ben are rehearsing for the show but then the MVP of this video, Matt comes with some weird yet funny wardrobe collection. One can clearly see the distaste in John and Ben’s face, but as no one can disagree with Matt, they unwillingly chose a costume. Matt gets very excited during rehearsal which makes the other two leave. He decides to take a nap and encounters a nightmare; and gets late for the final performance.
Then comes the money shot of the video, PUBLIC performing LDQ in a normal wardrobe. The video is really good, it has the kind of a funny vibe which was also present in One That I Want. When Splash Official Video was released, I was genuinely confused about the concept. I had to watch it 4-5 times to really understand the music video but this was not the case with Little Drama Queen. So, the song is banger, the music video is dope and the two go very well with each other like Mac & Cheese.
Conclusion
PUBLIC is what we call as an “underrated band” and LDQ is what we call as a banger song. The 80s funk/pop-disco vibe of this song is immaculate, the bassline, drums and the synth are just fabulous and vocals as always are a treat to hear. I do feel that the band still needs to focus a bit on the lyrics and try to incorporate more of it, specifically during the bridge, 2-3 more lines would have done wonders but still LDQ is one hell of a song which when given time, will just grow on you. This song might not get a large number of views/streams, but still it is much better than some popular top-charts songs at the moment. So, if you want a dope song to jam to, you know what to listen.
And also, I forget to mention this earlier but Halloween is coming and PUBLIC is known to re-create Christmas songs and release them on Halloween and I just love their take on those songs. Fun fact, I cut the Christmas cake last year by listening to “Winter Wonderland” by PUBLIC. So, I’m expecting same type of banger this year too.