Big Bill - Public Freakout Compilation (LP)

When the world’s burning, and our existence seems more puny and senseless than ever, the only thing left to do is to lean into the absurdity. Enter: Big Bill—Austin’s part beautiful, part ridiculous freak-punk four-piece who are coaxing their listeners from numbness to exhilaration, even while the world’s crumbling before us.Listening to their second album Public Freakout Compilation, which opens with singer Eric’s Cartman-core vocals, you’ll feel a bizarre yet aching appreciation for being alive. While it might sound like a sonic shitpost—”or a shitty YouTube compilation you might stumble onto late at night,” in Eric’s words—the message at its core is unassumingly earnest.Produced by a dream team of Erik Wofford, Stuart Sikes, Danny Reisch, Michael Landon, and Dan Duszynski in studios in and around Austin, their second album offers a much broader palette and emotional range.But more than any other, the track ‘Picture’ provides insight into the heart of the band, as it takes the perspe