Palma Violets 180 Album Review
Palma Violets are a 4 piece indie rock band made up of Pete Mayhew (Keyboards) Sam Fryer (Guitar and Vocals), Alex "Chilli" Jesson (Bass and Vocals) and Will Doyle (Drums) from Lambeth in South London and released their debut album 180 on the 25th of February 2013 on Rough Trade Records and have since then toured endlessly and played many festivals.
The sound of the album upon first listen is one a pure raw talent, its not your usual sounding indie band, similar to the Libertines, Palma Violets follow a distinct pattern throughout the album, with a mixture of edgy guitar effects and "in your face" vocals which provide a fast paced, pumped up sound which will entice you to listen to the album on repeat.
The opening track (best of friends) sets us up for the album, the loud vocals and thumping drum beat sends you into euphoria, you can imagine jumping up and down to the song wherever you hear it. In a way, it is a love song, written perhaps about a girl who is seen as clingy, " I wanna be your best friend, I don't want you to be my Girl" suggests that the song is based on someone and could be seen as a love song.
The two subsequent tracks are rather synth based. Step up for the cool cats starts off with a blistering synth sound that propels us back to the 80's, then the vocals come in, really deep sounding and very Jesus and Mary Chain-esque, the song slowly builds up and up to the second verse where all the instruments come in, and similar to Best of Friends its a song to jump around to without a doubt. All the garden birds on the other hand is a little slower and mellow in comparison t the opening two tracks which provides a satisfying balance between loud and soft sounding vocals. However before the song reaches it climax there is a brilliant chord progression starting high and getting deeper, this is repeated and is a very suitable end to the song.
After All of the Garden Birds, we arrive back to the raw sound of best of friends with track 4 (rattlesnake highway) a song that has a very distorted sound not just on the guitar and bass but also the vocals which provide a very a simple but effective sound. the violets breeze though the song in just 2 and half minutes of adrenaline filled brilliance and its the perfect song to have playing on a long drive in the sun blaring from your stereo! Chicken Dippers follows rattlesnake highway and similar to All the garden birds it starts off slowly and gradually builds up then drops and builds up again with an ever present drum beat Chicken Dippers is another superb track.
All the subesquent tracks including Tom The Drum, We found love and Johnny Bagga Donuts all follow in the footsteps of Best of friends and rattlesnake highway, with a pure, raw sound with the similar effects as mentioned earlier, you may think this could be considered as a lazy way of completing an album, but I think this is not the case at all. All the songs although they may use similar chords and effects, stand out dramatically as brilliant and fresh.
The final track of the album is an 8 minute track (14) which was written by bassist Chilli. 14 is a night bus near where the boys live and Chilli wrote the song after coming home on the night bus after a night out. And this particular song for me stands out from the other tracks, its the perfect album closer, there is a sense of emotion and sadness in the song, the vocals from Sam fit the song perfectly.
All in all, if you want an album that is refreshingly raw and simple, with tracks that will make you want to get up and dance then this is the album for you. Palma Violets have made a bold statement with this album and have carved out a distinct personality that will set them apart from indie bands now and in the future and if you get the chance to see the band live you will not want to miss it, they have a special relationship with the people who go to see them, Chilli works the crowd fantastically and he will crowd surf, so if you're at the front and centre you will be forced to help Chilli out whilst he crowd surfs, and the buzz you will get from jumping up and down to the likes of Best of friends and We found love, will make you want to see them again.
Best Tracks - Best Of Friends, We Found Love, 14
Album rating (out of 10) 9
 Sam Fryer (Guitar and Vo...){kind=link}
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