Hailing from Minneapolis, jangly indie pop from the band Palm Friends harkens back to 90’s bands like Ivy but also has that vibe like Claud, Soccer Mommy, Japanese Breakfast, etc. You ever listen to something and just know the band should be way bigger and this might be the quiet before the storm. This might be that release for Palm Friends. I really like this and it has a darkness to it that strips the syrupy sweet pop elements from it that some of the bigger contemporary female fronted indie pop bands have. It has moments where I hear Hope Sandoval’s longing and at other moments I hear Lemonheads and Juliana Hatfield. There are just so many good influences all thrown into a blender to create this, a really great EP. I really hope I’m right because I think I’m a fan now and rooting for them! I don’t even mind the male vocals on track five “Devotion”, which is usually the kiss of death for a bunch of bands. Like for instance Phantogram, nobody wants to hear the dude sing. But it adds a different element here, almost switches it over to sounding like The Lucksmiths or something akin to that. I really like this; you should check it out because this is one of those bands you are going to be hearing bigger things about.
- Sam Lowry