SF-based duo Painted Palms do something many bands aspire to do: bring the aesthetic of an earlier era's music into a contemporary setting. In their case, it is using the light-psych vibe of the late 60s and layering it with 21st Century beats. It seems a simple task, as much of the hard work has been taken care of already - all that's needed is fancy new technological tools and voila! Instant reinvention! Ah, but then there's the tricky part about actually writing songs that hold their own weight...
Happily, Painted Palms have got that covered, as producer Reese Donohue smartly brings in yet another era's musical invention - 80s New Wave percolating keyboards - while vocalist Chris Prudhomme wraps his melodies in the hazy, wide-eyed style of many a post-Rubber Soul singer. Songs like "Refractor" and "Contact" stick in mind, all while driving the listener straight to the dancefloor. (DFA-connected engineer Eric Broucek surely helps tie everything together in a pretty bow as well.) The effect is totally modern, while saluting some of the best parts of pop music's long history.
-Eric J. Lawrence
Tracklist:
- Refractor
- Contact
- Gemini
- Glaciers
- Echoes
- Control
- Disintegrate
- Waterfall
- Painkiller
- Tracers
