Palma Violets are an up and coming indie rock four piece from the London
borough of Lambeth. I use the term indie rock lightly because the genre is now
known for its Oasis-rip off which in turn is a Beatles/Who/Kinks/Roses-rip off.
This makes British rock look bad and Palma Violets fit nicely in with the other
fake dirty Londoners, The Vaccines. This needs to be short and snappy because a
band with one single doesn't deserve... The front cover of NME. All hype aside,
Palma Violets are somewhere between The Clash and The Vaccines. This comparison
to The Libertines has been blown way out of proportion. They're from London,
they wear fancy clothes and they play indie rock; they don't need to be
compared to The Libertines.
There are many terms knocking about in my head right now that could be used to define Palma Violets debut single "Best of Friends". To name a few: Unoriginal, average, bland, counterfeit, predictable, overrated and aged. Above all is the lack of innovation, which is arguably the most important aspect of an up and coming band. There's nothing worse than an artist that sounds like several other artists, but offers nothing new to the table.
Best of Friends is an unforgettable track. The guitar work is rather enjoyable
and It's the chorus with the refrain friend-zone lyrics that excite the
listener. This track may sound catchy, the production may be of quality but
it's incredibly average. The guitar work isn't special, all modern indie bands
that whore the reverb pedal need a good whipping to be honest. I'm looking
forward to listening to more tracks by Palma Violets because I don't think they
can cut it. There's nothing in this three minute single that tells me they're
special. They're just not different, and for that their debut album should
comically and quite applicably be titled What Didn't You Expect From Palma Violets?
~Eddie
