Public Strain
by Women
Women bestography
Public Strain is ranked as the best album by Women.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Public Strain on YouTube
Public Strain track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Public Strain rankings
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Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 25 members
Public Strain ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 152 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/25/2026 23:21 | jbonilla84 | 241 | 59/100 | |
| 12/29/2025 17:31 | mutant | 1,671 | 56/100 | |
| 11/09/2025 11:56 |  Milhaud | 1,905 | 70/100 | |
| 09/09/2025 11:54 |  SomethingSpecial | 1,746 | 82/100 | |
| 04/06/2025 13:30 | Cheboygan74 | 1,289 | 52/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 6% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.5/100, a mean average of 74.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 75.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.7.
Public Strain favourites
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Public Strain comments
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teague 07/21/2020 21:52 | #255958
Some obvious Velvet Underground influence, but there's also hints of Sonic Youth and Swell Maps. The sense of tension is absolutely paralyzing at times, the emphasis is really on the performances and the arrangements rather than the songwriting, but that's also great as well. One of 2010's best, sad it's rated fairly low.
Anti 03/19/2020 19:33 | #248870
Why are people mostly downvoting that "Velvet Underground meets Beach House" comment? It's pretty spot on and I think it's a great thing. If you disagree you must hate the album or are listening to the wrong album. This album is amazing and I'm glad it's being resurfaced for praise.
I hope this record doesn't get forgotten over time, at the very least it deserves a lot more recognition than it already has in my opinion.
Right from the very start the enormous ambition of this album becomes obvious, "Can't You See" is a huuuuge soundscape with a desperately pretty song being cried out at the centre of it. Such an unconventional way to start but then appropriate given the unsettling and dissonant nature of it, which comes to characterise the album. It may not sound easy to listen to at first, but it rewards patience.
This whole album feels like an unlikely meeting point between the style and attitude of The Velvet Underground and the ambitious-yet-catchy songwriting of The Beach Boys. The result is simply exhilarating; there are horrifying and loud soundscapes like the song "Bells", cathartic punk moments in the song "Drag Open" and then there's a brilliant closer in the song "Eyesore". This track is perfectly placed at the end as it encapsulates everything about this album, it's as catchy as it is complex.
I'm a big fan of Preoccupations/Viet Cong and Cindy Lee, but this album is still the best thing to have come out of this group of musicians in my opinion.
flamingyesdept 05/23/2016 17:09 | #166722
Velvet Underground meets Beach House
junodog4 06/09/2015 03:33 | #143364
Worthy of attention, but won't be everyone's favourite.
Gooz 08/27/2014 13:36 | #120503
Reminds me beach fossils vocal with noises. Good
sounds like a bunch of disorganized schizophrenics playing pre-Rubber-Soul Beatles... so it's great. Like Psychocandy but dissonant instead of fuzzy.
"Heat Distraction", "Drag Open", "Locust Valley" are the standouts.
cartoken 06/10/2011 21:16 | #22978
a forgotten good album from 2010 , in maybe an exceptional year of good records. still, deserves some attention.
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