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| www.nme.com |
For a boisterous rock band’s second album the standard model is for things to be slightly tenderized: inspirations become more artistic and the debut-album-blow is filed down to a product that’s richer and more thoughtful, but lacking the angry punch that comes with the excitement of early recording sessions. Lambeth quartet Palma Violets have done anything but follow this routine. ‘Danger in the Club’ is rough and ready, overflowing with the same hard-hitting sounds that defined ‘180’ back in 2013.
Though it peaked at number 11 in the UK charts, there’s no denying that ‘180’ is not a record where a lot of thought has gone into muse and inspiration. It was inevitably teenage: lyrics focused on youthfulness and not a lot of imagery was created other than depicting a London lifestyle where good guitar music creates a tracklist of permanent drunkenness and freedom for the band. Possibly cliché, but it works. Inspirations evidently sprung from fellow Rough Trade artists, The Libertines and The Strokes. ‘Danger in the Club’ has taken the slurry vocals that created that original sound of euphoria and relaxation and mixed them into a record with more variety and improved substance.
None of the band members are trained singers, according to lead guitarrist Sam, so they resort to a chant of Hare Krishna as a pre-gig vocal warm up. This brazen sound in ‘Gout! Gang! Go!’ packs a gritty punch, and ‘Hollywood (I got it)’ leaks fresh optimism, particularly throughout the recurring backing message “I got it!” A catchy bass riff continuously rumbles under the lively and messy vocals, bringing the album back to Palma’s roots; everything sounds so memorably raucous that it almost mimics spontaneity.
‘Girl You Couldn’t Do Much Better on the Beach’ is another track leaking with exhilaration, but stepping up from the unpolished muckiness of ‘180’. That, equally as much as the title song, give the album the same anthem-quality that was established back in 2012 with the infamous line “I want to be your best friend, I don’t want you to be my girl.” These are the hits which will undeniably demand staggered sing-a-longs where unrehearsed, noisy lyrics sound just as in place on the street as on the stage.
Impulsive one-liners beg to be remembered, but it has to be said that there’s not much metaphorical meaning to 'Danger in the Club'. A deepened complexity is slightly shown in the bluesy sound of ‘Walking Home’, but things are still a bit too repetitive to hit hard. I don’t really see this as a problem, but in the band's rare moments of connection we see something more profound within the rowdy grime of their music. Despite this, 'Danger in the Club' is a powerful comeback for Palma Violets.
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| www.diymag.com |
For listeners of: The Libertines, The Strokes, The Vaccines
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