Talking Tracks: Feel Better Tomorrow by Public Pool

The indie surf-punk band's debut album is 10 happy-sounding sad songs about thinking you're a piece of shit but (hopefully) feeling better tomorrow.

Talking Tracks: Feel Better Tomorrow by Public Pool July 17, 2021

Dan Ray

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).

Photo by Danny Ngan

Twice a month on Talking Tracks, we interview local artists about their latest drops — song by song. It’s a little bit like a curated Spotify playlist, except way more in depth, and it’s all the people who live right in our city. In each episode, you’ll get to listen to the full album or EP right alongside the artist’s inspiration behind the tracks. Now, we’re teamed up with LiveMo to bring you special, live set editions of the podcast.

Seattle indie surf-punk band Public Pool released their debut album, Feel Better Tomorrow, on June 24, 2021. In this live audience episode of Talking Tracks, Dan and PP break down the meaning behind and the making of each song on the project — 10 happy-sounding sad songs about thinking you’re a piece of shit but (hopefully) feeling better tomorrow.

This episode was recorded at The Rendezvous with sound by Sean Aragon.

Listen and subscribe to the full podcast below, and then click through our photo story for all the best moments. Download the LiveMo app on Apple and Android to stay updated on future live episodes.

Track listing:
1. Room on Fire – 7:00.
2. Rat in the City – 14:30.
3. Boy – 22:10.
4. Wanna Be Lonely – 31:40.
5. Pull My Head Out – 39:50.
6. Sides – 50:35.
7. Let You Down – 60:00.
8. Everything You Wanted — 70:35.
9. Space Between — 80:25.
10. Too Cool — 89:55.

This episode of the podcast was recorded in front of a live audience at the Jewel Box Theatre inside of The Rendezvous Seattle, a dinner theater venue in Belltown. Here, host Dan Ray and the band prep for the show backstage.

Public Pool is an indie surf-punk quartet out of Seattle. From left: vocalist/guitarist Jack O'Brien, bassist Linden Crumrine, drummer Paul Rhoads, and vocalist/guitarist Zac Hartwell.

O'Brien and Hartwell split songwriting duties. "Room on Fire," one of O'Brien's tracks that took him six years to finish, opens the album.

Every episode, Ray asks the band a fun, themed question after each interview. Since this album is called Feel Better Tomorrow, Ray asks the band what self care they would do to make themselves feel better about what's happening in each song.

Track two, "Rat in the City," was written by Hartwell. It's named after Allston, MA, which is the neighborhood of Boston the band formed in while attending Berklee College of Music.

Hartwell said there was a pile of rat poop that sat in his house in Allston while he lived there. To comfort himself about that, he said the self care he would do is go get shawarma.

The band moved to Seattle together on a whim. After graduating, they said they didn't want to stay in Boston but thought New York was too expensive, so they made their way to the West Coast.

Rhoads is the only member of the band that did not relocate from Allston. He joined the band after they moved to Seattle.

This was the first show hosted at The Rendezvous post-reopening.

Hartwell said his favorite form of math is arithmetic. He gave the crowd a word problem: "Johnny has eight apples. He has three taken away. How many apples does he have?" (The answer is five.)

Track six, "Sides," is one of two tracks on the album written by both Hartwell and O'Brien. The other is track eight, "Everything You Wanted."

O'Brien said he and Hartwell want to write more together. "Sides" came together when O'Brien wrote a riff in 5/4 time. He shared it with Hartwell, who had also written a separate riff in 5/4. They played them together, and the song was born.

This show occurred after reopening, so there were no social distancing or masking guidelines.

Crumrine and Hartwell are relatives by marriage. Crumrine's twin sister is married to Hartwell's older brother.

Track six, "Let You Down," is one of the tracks the title of the album is taken from. The lyrics say, "When I’m at my best / Still a fucking mess / I’ll get better tomorrow."

When O'Brien is into something they've written at practice, he tells the band, "Daddy likes." Rhoads made O'Brien an apron for his birthday that says "Grill Daddy Doobz."

Originally, Crumrine is from rural Connecticut, Hartwell is from Texas, O'Brien is from just outside the Bay Area, and Rhoads is from Ohio.

Public Pool used to have three guitarists. O'Brien joked they needed three because together they were able to do what one talented guitarist is capable of.

The band lists their influences as The Strokes, Deerhoof, Tune-Yards, Powerbleeder, and Black Ends.

Track nine, "Space Between," is the other track the album pulls its name from. O'Brien sings, "If I'll feel better tomorrow / Tell me more, tell me more."