PALACES – ‘Dust/Telephone’ Single Review
Posted: by Riley
Just gonna leave this here real quick: “new wave revival.” If you start to hear that term tossed around, you can say you heard it here first. While Detroit’s PALACES is not necessarily a new wave band per se, they are one of the most exciting bands incorporating new wave elements right now – and believe me, there are plenty out there. ‘Axiomatic,’ Palaces’ outstanding single from earlier this year, saw the group employ hypnotic guitars recalling Echo & The Bunnymen, while b-side ‘Let Me Get Higher’ was a distinctive, jangly garage rocker (and probably a blast to play live).
Only a month and a half later, they’re back with two more tracks. As we start to learn more about the covert duo, their dedication to minimalism has become an apparent and welcome trait in the PALACES blueprint. Often with new wave and pysch rock, songs get buried in over-production and over-complication. ‘Dust’ is post-punk straight from the garage; letting an urgent Foals-esque riff dash atop tempo changes and gentle tambourine, S.S. (singer) attempts to “get [his] head straight.” The real magic, though, kicks in on the other single with the Velvet-Underground-influenced second track ‘Telephone.’ This thing is a sunny Saturday morning dance-around-your-kitchen charmer. PALACES address all of their obstacles one-by-one and still manage to come out on top with a poised “but I feel alright, yeah I feel alright.” And with a song like this one under your belt, how could you not?
FFO: Protomartyr, Foals, The Velvet Underground
