PUBLIC EXECUTION

On their return to San Francisco after an August 1983 Australian tour, Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra penned a scene report for punk fanzine Maximum Rocknroll. As well as comparing US and Australian culture, he described a bunch of Aussie punk bands including Public Execution, who supported the Dead Kennedys at Brisbane’s Festival Hall alongside The Johnnys. “Another band who have some American thrashish tunes was Public Execution and were probably the most maniacal of the Australian bands I saw. The singer was a genuine nut on stage, with a really demented look in his eye, something you only usually find in Americans.”

Bassist Terry Devery formed Public Execution, or Pub Ex, on the south side of Brisbane in 1981 with guitarist Steve Playford and drummer Fred Noonan. Formed from the remnants of local garage bands Sabotage and Malicious Joy, the three-piece was influenced by the first wave of US hardcore and played an incendiary Black Flag/early-SST style of punk seasoned with some British sounds (Crisis, Flux of Pink Indians) as well as some good old-fashioned Brisbane yob.

In 1982 they released the single, ''Methadone Slave / S.S. Brigade''. The single sits at the cusp of this scene but, like the Australian murder punk bands of the time (a term coined from 2001 bootleg compilations including the Victims, Razar, the Chosen Few and which could also include local heroes the Left Overs and Psycho Surgeons), it was full of sneering, nihilistic vocals and sped-up, punkified pub-rock riffs. Bass player Lindsay Dalgliesh (ex-Mystery Of Sixes) joined the band soon after and Devery became the vocal frontman. In 2013 a compilation album was released on Shortfuse Records. In 2022 the band released the single, ''American Hardcore / The Deal'' on the Swashbuckling Hobo label.

Members

Terry Devery (bass vocals), Steve Playford (guitar), Fred Noonan (drums),
Lindsay Dalgleish (bass)