San Francisco–This past Thursday, psych-dance rock duo and former San Francisco residents–‘We don’t live here anymore, but it’s still our favorite place to play!’–Painted Palms brought down the house at San Francisco’s Rickshaw Stop in celebration of their upcoming sophomore release Horizons, which is due to hit shelves next Friday (September 4th). On their second LP, Painted Palms have embraced a more electronic sound, turning up the tempo and layering deep layers of synths and Cut Copy-esque vocal reverbs.
The last time I saw Painted Palms was in a backyard in the Haight, and the band played several songs from their then-recently released debut LP Forever. The show was small and intimate, as was this one (Rickshaw Stop is notoriously tiny), but for their album release party, not only did Painted Palms bring a long a live drummer, they also brought a slew of new material and a hypnotizing set of visual projections. After a set by local rapper Antwon, the Palms took the stage, taking us through about a dozen songs, most of which are lifted off their new release, just in a different order. It was a fairly short set—only about an hour—but they used their time wisely, showcasing almost every single song from their new LP.
Painted Palms took to the stage drenched in dark blue light, looking more clean-cut than ever. Singer/guitarist Chris Prudhomme had lopped off his long locks and was sporting a simple white T-shirt, looking very much like classic James Dean; while his cousin Reese Donahue (synths/looping/drum machine) had lost his curly mop and elected to go spectacle-free for the evening. They kicked off their set with the first track off Horizons, “Refractor,” a mesmerizing piece of music that starts with sinister, labyrinthine synths and an echoing vocal track that bounced like a flurry of superballs around the cozy venue. From this first song it was clear that this was to be a much more electronic-heavy set, which became even more evident with songs like “Glaciers,” “Disintegrate” and “Control,” whose introductory vocal hooks are very reminiscent of The Beatles’ “Taxman.”
The new material seems to be heavily influenced by new-wave/dance music of the 80s—namely Depeche Mode and Duran Duran—as evident in the darker synth tones of “Contact,” “Echoes,” and “Waterfall.” The duo—or I suppose trio now, with the addition of their drummer—took a moment to slow things down as well with the hazy, pensive “Painkiller,” though their new digitized sound held strong throughout. We were also treated to a few of the band’s favorites from their first LP, including the stomping, trippy “Spinning Signs,” set-closer “Hypnotic,” and crowd favorite “Forever,” which the band played second, featuring a droning, jam-like intro. In fact, most of the set’s songs seemed to add a certain flair for instrumental elongation as the three took to stretching several tracks to include a few minutes of blissful improvisation.
Painted Palms new material is fresh and delightful, a great step forward for the band while still holding true to the sound that put them on the map. While the music is certainly more dance floor-friendly, it still contains within it plenty of poetic nuance, purposeful composition, and just the right amount of psychedelia. In a live setting, it’s bright and colorful, and easy to surrender one’s limbs to its infectious beats. Once the material is even more polished—which will undoubtedly happen as their tour continues—it’ll be impossible to ignore.
Painted Palms’ second LP, Horizons, is available on September 4th via Polyvinyl. Their fall tour takes them next to NYC, then to Japan in September and back in North America through October and November.
For more information on Painted Palms visit their website or their Facebook page.
Photo by Corey Bell.
Corey Bell
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