A
lovely and old-school Summer family holiday in Jersey last week unfortunately
meant that I missed a couple of very promising new bands playing relatively
locally. Teenage Wrist, Trophy Eyes and Lee Bains, I’ll catch up with all you
guys before too long, I hope…! I was therefore eager to get back to gigging
ways after a month’s hiatus with an equally promising albeit local band – it’s Palm
Rose again! Hosts of my last gig (and, thanks to their participation in the
Shuffle, completing a consecutive gigs hat-trick), Adam and the boys are
getting things moving this Autumn, this low-key and short-notice show being
followed in short order with a higher-profile EP release one at my old stamping
ground Level 3! I’ll be at that one too, but first…
Drove
into town for my third Swindon gig in a row (with, amazingly, 4 more to follow
before I’m gigging out of the ‘don again!), parking up at the bottom of town
and completely missing this brand new venue along Faringdon Road! No surprise,
doors were closed and access was to the rear! So I wandered around the back and
exchanged greetings with the Palm Rose boys and their coterie, before wandering
into this coffee shop venue, taking a seat by esteemed local rock impresario
Dave Franklin for openers Illustrations, who’d set up on the makeshift stage in
the shuttered shopfront area (hence the need to go round the back!). Highly
recommended by my friend Roger Herman (indeed, Rog missed tonight’s headliners’
Shuffle set in favour of a wander down to The Beehive to catch Illustrations’
clashing show!), this painfully young 4-piece, I was informed by Mr. Franklin,
had been through a musical voyage of discovery via Neutral Milk Hotel (nice!)
and Oasis (not so…), eventually settling somewhere in the middle. Opening
numbers had a pleasingly melodic and cleanly new wave pop vibe (“English
Settlement”-era XTC or early Go-Betweens, perhaps), all buoyant, upbeat and
strumalong, before they went all 60’s pseudo-psych on us, the later set harking
back to either the gently lapping surf pop of Jonathan Richman, “Sergeant
Pepper”-era Beatles or the jangly West Coast pop of Byrds or Buffalo
Springfield. Some lofty aspirations then, and currently their reach is
exceeding their grasp, but props for ambition and some nice harmonic moments in
an overall very likeable set.
Tonight’s
host urged everyone to contribute their cover charge (I already had, first
thing, as I’d ordered my non-coffee drink – I hate coffee, me!), then a short
break ensued before Palm Rose set up and kicked off their set just after 9, by
which time I was standing near the front, reluctantly supping through my bitter
cloudy lemonade (the non-coffee option!). Some yearning, almost weeping guitar from
guitarist Aaron kicked off opener “Move Slowly”, with chugging rhythms and a
darkly morose bassline recalling old post-punkers Modern Eon thence propelling
the opener to its’ undulating, Edge-like riff denouement. “Seattle”, next up,
featured an understated, stripped back base verse before its darkly building, melancholy
yet hooky chorus, with the huge mid-song crescendo and some intricate riffery (again)
from Aaron an impressive feature. We got a plug from vocalist Adam for the CD
release show and some merch (a cool t-shirt which I later availed myself of)
before the more slow-burn “Tender Heart”, which built to some dramatic
Interpol-esque guitar work, and a subsequent “Daydream In C”, which sounded as
good as I’ve heard it, building a head of steam towards a dramatic and
passionate, almost Sheila Divine-like crescendo. Superb!
This
is what the Palm Rose boys do best; like Cirencester’s equally impressive (but
more veteran) Familiars, their songs ease in, broodily building up momentum
before the clouds part and they lead into guitar-driven, widescreen dreamscape
crescendos of sound. “Humid” lived up to its’ name, a hazy Summer evening vibe
before the towering hook then collapsed into a lovely acapella ending, and
closer “Where Are We Now” was a perfect punctuation point on another fine Palm
Rose set, Dave Franklin and I exchanging suitably impressed nods at its’
conclusion.
That
wasn’t it for us 2 old musos though, as the relatively early finish gave us a
chance for a beer (well, Dave, not me) and a proper chinwag about musical
journeys, tales of Level 3 and The Monkey Club, and chance meetings with rock
legends (Lemmy for Dave, Phil Lynott in my case!). A scheduled early work start
the following day saw me hit the road and home for 11 after another fine evening
in good musical company, and a nicely maturing band in Palm Rose. Ready for
that EP release party now!
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