Artist: Wild Palms
Album: Until Spring
Label: One Little Indian Records
Release Date: April 12, 2011
Review by: Sean Kayden
In 2009, WILD PALMS’ first single, “Over Time” was a grungy, post-punk, sharp-edged tune with an indescribable aura of thrill, pizzazz, and restlessness. After the release of a couple of singles over the past two years, the London quartet has finally graced us with their debut album, “Until Spring”. They traded their too-cool-for-school attitude for U2-inspired arena rock anthems. It’s somewhat of an uneven record that suffers from being influenced by too many bands before them. However, as you journey through the peaks and valleys of “Until Spring”, you’ll discover that familiarity isn’t always a bad thing. Fans of recent indie groups, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Bombay Bicycle Club, and Wild Beasts will hear the resemblances in sound arrangements. Other generations will discover lead singer Lou Hill’s vocals to share similarities to 80s groups like Tears For Fears and New Order. It’s not entirely clear what Wild Palms were seeking out to accomplish with their debut album. I’m not completely sold with every track on the record, but even in uncertainty I’m still bizarrely mesmerized by a few of their more potent songs. Some may call Wild Palms’ earnest effort a complete misfire. However, whatever their intentions may have been, “Until Spring” is a pleasing, amiable, if not conventional, gloomy pop record. While the execution may have been slightly off, Wild Palms’ shortcomings still prove that their artistry and future endeavors are just some things to take into deep consideration.
Many first time listeners of Wild Palms from 2009 will be somewhat bewildered by their new undertaking of an entirely different and expansive soundscape. Expectations will get the best of you because Wild Palms circa 2009 is not the band you may have wanted to embrace in this year. Personally, if I had heard their original song that provided drone-like sounding vocals two years ago, they wouldn’t have even been on my radar. Since they’ve conformed to a more distinctive and recognizable style, I was more willing to seek them out. Now there really isn’t anything to be annoyed or irritated by with “Until Spring” unless you loathe the idea of a band implementing their influential roots into their debut presentation rather than determining their own personal, defining signature. Despite all that, you’re still left with an album with superior production values, an utterly infectious sound and better-than-average vocals. At the same token, lyrically you may not become enthralled and your emotions might never be put on the line. The album itself feels a bit of a contradiction. Wonderfully flawed best describes this rapture. In the end, Wild Palms is the kind of band you first discover at a music festival and tell all your friends about how an obscure band that sounds like better-known bands changed your life. Eventually you’ll realize the same feeling you had with thousands of people by your side in the moment you hailed the best time of your life doesn’t even come to close to being recaptured in the privacy of your bedroom while listening to the same band’s recorded album.
Key Tracks: “Draw In Light”, “Delight In Temptation”, “Swirling Shades”
Grade: 7.2 out of 10.
Published on May 7, 2011 by Mountain Views News
http://mtnviewsnews.com/v05/htm/n19/p10.htm
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