WOMEN To Release 10th Anniversary Limited Edition Reissue Of 'Public Strain'

On September 28th, 2010, "Public Strain" was unleashed into the world. Women, the young band behind it, was made up of four childhood friends from Calgary, Alberta, and the follow up to their 2008 self-titled debut would become their final entry, despite only being a band a few years. The product of an intense and difficult year-long recording process, "Public Strain" seems without any clear sonic lineage - equal parts Velvet Underground, Deerhoof, and Television, but distinctly unique and unprecedented. Just over a month after the album's release, the short-lived band was finished; however, the reverberations of "Public Strain" were widespread and it became regarded as a modern-day masterpiece, a vital document of an inimitable moment in time, and a clear touchstone for countless albums since its release.

Now, a decade later, Jagjaguwar & Flemish Eye are announcing a special 10th anniversary edition of this now legendary album as well as the release of some long-rare B-side material. "Public Strain" will be available on a limited-edition clear vinyl pressing. Fans of the band have waited years to hear snippets of rare material, and five of those rarities are now being compiled into one collection to complement the reissue. "Rarities 2007-2010" features material that was either hard-to-find, over never released, all mastered properly for the first time. Pre-orders are now available for both.

Today, you can listen to the previously unreleased "Everyone Is So In Love With You", and the full EP will be available to stream on October 2nd. Pre-order here.

On their debut self-titled album, Women embraced sonic brashness that deeper examination revealed to be tinted with sly pop melody. With "Public Strain" the band honed a sound truthful to that reverb drenched noise while allowing the pop sensibilities to surface into clearer focus.

In fall of 2009, Patrick Flegel (vocals/guitar), Matt Flegel (bass/vocals), Chris Reimer (guitar/vocals), and Michael Wallace (drums) went into the studio with an abundance of ideas, working around conflicting schedules and graveyard shifts. With Chad VanGaalen again on production duties, the band laboriously crafted a timeless sounding recording over the dead of winter in Alberta, Canada. The result exploits their usage of harsh, grating dissonance in smaller and controlled doses, using noise as the foundation for richly structured, layered songwriting.

From the opening strains of "Can't You See" it's clear that the album is far more than just a continuation of their debut. Resting upon Matt Flegel's plodding bass line, Patrick Flegel's deadpan vocal delivery, and Chris Reimer on bowed guitars and cello, this moody, nocturnal ballad opens the album on a dark note - one that is quickly countered by "Heat Distraction", a jigsaw of bright guitar phrases and winding time signatures.

This exact balance of delicate and dense is a pervasive thread throughout the album, reflecting the contradiction of the band's environment buried in urban sprawl framed by prairie landscape. Whether twisting through the urgent krautrock of "Locust Valley", an exercise of harmony through simplicity, or climaxing with the bittersweet melody of "Eyesore", the album somehow builds luminous contrast out of a palette of grays.

In places claustrophobic, conjuring walking dreams of sexual anguish and general decay, elsewhere soaring with vintage guitar tones and vocal melodies or collapsing into swirling, mesmerizing swells, "Public Strain" cycles through insomnia, paranoia, resignation and euphoria, to capture a band with an undeniable voice coming into full awareness of their craft.

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