Search - Palomar :: Palomar 2

Wake up call

D. J. Kaminsky | Brooklyn, NY United States | 09/01/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you order a martini at the Bowery Ballroom you should be careful of getting burned. The vodka in mine was at least part napalm. And I still regret taking such a big gulp of the stuff right before Palomar started playing Trade Off because I definitely forgot to swallow, making the burns worse and sending my esophagus straight to hell. (As an aside, I hope I'm never accused of calling anyone "700 times a day.")I'd never seen Palomar before, never heard one of their songs, but even over the fuzzy speakers in the basement bar where I was waiting for Rainier Maria to play, the power Palomar has deep down in all those damn catchy guitar hooks was able to convince me to abandon the burning martini and move my feet toward the stage.There I came face-to-face with what looked to be an all-female (apologies to the drummer who I couldn't see) four-piece synched together with fearsome split-second precision and some songs that bit and chewed in ways that I'm still trying to get my brain around. Most of the bite seemed to emanate from the lead singer who might be the only lyricist/musician since Johnny Rotten to blaze with the type of chainsaw ambition that her lyrics were full-of. Johnny Rotten's ambition was white hot and Rachel Palomar's ambition is white cold. Either way you're still gonna get burned. Outwardly Palomar's sound is a little like what you'd expect if the Beach Boys and the GoGo's got together with Kim Deal and Black Francis to cover a bunch of Alvin and the Chipmunks songs. But that description doesn't do Palomar any justice. Because trying to understand the war that is popular music in America is all about trying to figure out where the music wants to take you. Britney wants you in a seedy strip club full of ATMs. Wilco wants you at a county fair where they serve vegetarian corndogs. Palomar puts you in overdrive, headed for a place that doesn't exist yet where every bar is full of friends, every friendship is full of honesty and honesty just might be a ticket to heaven."

This is good and fun, and so fun its good

D. J. Kaminsky | 04/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Listen to a couple of the samples and you will not be disapointed. Fun rock, somewhere between Sleater-Kinney, The Breeders, and the GoGoS. Its been in my rotation for quite some time now."

BUY THIS RECORD!!!

Patrick S. Rogers | East Elmhurst, NY United States | 04/25/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great band and you should buy this disc! The first thing that struck me about this CD is that there is a lot going on in almost every song. This is a band that really plays together. The interplay between the instruments and voices is incredible. The lyrics are great; no matter what the story, it is told in interesting and intelligent terms. The disc starts with several very fast, energetic songs, but if you don't like them, just wait a few minutes - there is always something different on the way, including several fairly down-tempo songs that are among the best on the record. The cover of Eno's "I'll Come Running" is suitably bizarre and wonderful. The last song on the disc, "Can't Wake Up" is a great song that comes to a rousing conclusion that makes it sound like the last song on the disc. Overall, this is a great record, and if there is any justice, this band will get the larger following it deserves."