Tag: Palm

PLAYING DETROIT: Palm Brings East Coast Experimental Rock to Marble Bar

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Palm photo by Dylan Pearce

Thanks to Detroit-based booking company, Party Store Productions, Marble Bar – a venue generally known for hosting electronic and house DJs – has been bringing in a steady roster of local and visiting rock bands. This week, Philadelphia-based prog rockers Palm were joined by Spirit of the Beehive and local Detroit band Double Winter for a delightfully disorienting show. Palm’s outré time signatures, erratic vocals, and incandescent synths make for a refreshingly novel sound arriving at what can be described as “mathy-Beach Boy-grunge-jazz.”

Although the complex tempo changes and musical layers sound like a bunch of technically trained musicians blissfully nerding out, none of the band’s members – Kasra Kurt (guitar/vocals), Eve Alpert (guitar/vocals), Gerasimos Livitsanos (bass), and Hugo Stanley (drums) – are classically trained. They formed Palm as more or less novices after meeting at Bard College in 2011. However, the band has more than made up for their lack of conventional training by rehearsing for hours on end, resulting in virtuosic experimental playing. If anything, the band’s lack of classic training adds to their novel sound by freeing them from adhering to any set of musical parameters.

Performing songs from recently-released sophomore album Rock Island as well as last year’s short-but-sweet Shadow Expert EP, Palm completely captivated the audience with their transcendent sound. The band shows their full musical palette with songs like “Composite,” where Kurt’s Brian Wilson-esque vocals are fragmented by puttering guitar patterns and syncopated drum beats. Instead of attempting to keep up with Palm’s insane changes in tone and time signature, the audience seemed content with falling into a euphoric trance.

In a world where it’s hard to capture someone’s attention for more than 15 seconds, much less an entire concert, Palm had most in the room hanging on to every last distorted guitar jab.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Palm “Trading Basics”

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What does the new release by Palm, Trading Basics, sound like? A machine: many parts weaving in and out, around and over each other, starting and stopping suddenly. Sometimes it’s smooth, and sometimes it sounds like the gears need some grease. On the dizzying track “Crank,” the vocals are like steam, rising before evaporating in the atmosphere. On a song like “Ankles,” where the words “I don’t need you anymore” are repeatedly choked out, they’re more like heavy exhaust. And like any well-built machine, Palm has an endless, relentless energy. It’s fascinating to watch (well, listen) but don’t get too close – some of its parts are sharp.

Trading Basics comes out today, and while it’s not exactly an easy listen, it’s worth it to be exposed to Palm’s amazingly abstract and arty form of rock. Take “Second Ward,” which starts off as a more straight-ahead rock song but suddenly introduces a creeping bass line, a dissonant, busy guitar line and low moans. The track abruptly breaks into a delicate section before switching gears again with snarling guitars and brash vocals reminiscent of Sonic Youth. You can never quite get comfortable with the track, which feels several songs in one. Then there’s the short and sudden “Drawn Straws,” which teases a hint of a bluesy guitar riff, played in a way that sounds like the strings are melting off of the instrument.

Palm’s musical ideas are bold, and seem endless – On Trading Basics, they’ve traded up to a sound that’s way cooler than your average rock band. The album is being released via Inflated Records and Exploding In Sound, and Palm will be playing an album release show tonight at Palisades along with Palberta and The Cradle.