Palm

Shadow Expert Palm

Limited royal blue colored vinyl LP pressing, includes digital download. In describing Palm to the uninitiated, it's sometimes necessary to clarify the meaning of the group's name by raising one's hand in the universal symbol of greeting and goodwill. The act of corroborating the aural with the gestural occurs everywhere in their work. On their latest EP, Shadow Expert, the syntax of popular music is regarded suspiciously and often subjected to revisions or reversals. Without formal training in their instruments, the players are left to determine their own musical language. Eve Alpert and Kasra Kurt's guitars occupy themselves most often with the pace-keeping work typical of a rhythm section. Meanwhile, Gerasimos Livitsanos' bass and Hugo Stanley's drums seem to perform commentary and reportage from deeply embedded positions at the front. Their contributions remain necessary to the composition, generating the kind of friction that other motion can be charted against: the grinding of teeth, the turning of an engine.