Words by Tim Hakki @TimHakki
In the annals of rock'n'roll history, math rock has never been an equation that led to much on a commercial or influential level. Sure, bands like Foals have made it pretty far having an element of math to them, but they’re largely kings of 4/4 indie pop. Palm are happy to tread the math road without any compromise. The Hudson quartet first came to our attention when they released first single ‘Crank’ from their debut LP ‘Trading Basics’. Essentially it was a complex mathematical odyssey with distinct stoner vocal melodies (comparable to most of Josh Homme’s output). The album is out right now, and ‘Doggy Doctor’ is the most recent single from it. It’s a slow and strange number replete with chiming guitars and a kind of car-sick nauseous quality to its heavy lurching momentum. It’s challenging music that never quite settles in the stomach till the starry outro. More importantly, it’s an exemplary display of the challenging but incredibly piquant potential of math rock.
Trading Basics is out now on Exploding In Sound/Inflated