:: Record Review

Palomar

Palomar III: Revenge of Palomar
(Self-Starter Foundation; 2004)

Rating: 76%
Combined Rating: N/A%

I took a trip to Mexico with the family two years ago. Despite the fact that the resort town we were located in catered to a predominantly American clientele, only two of the thirteen stations on the hotel television broadcasted in English, which wasn’t really a problem considering a minimal amount of time was spent in the hotel room. But the TV was always in the "on" position in that late afternoon / early evening time slot in which relaxation soon gives way to dinner, and I ended up watching (and falling in love with) the WB’s Gilmore Girls for six days straight. The show has been a guilty pleasure of mine ever since, despite the fact that Lauren Graham’s (Lorelai Gilmore) tendency to cram far too many words into one sentence is very often annoying, while daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel) always speaks with a degree of sarcasm that no normal teenager would be able to conjure up on a consistent basis (I know it’s TV, but still). Did I mention that last season featured an episode containing both a live Shins performance and soft-core lesbian action?

Bear with me here. Outside of the mother/daughter relationship, there’s another character on Gilmore Girls that bears mentioning; Rory’s best friend Lane Kim. With her black horn rims, hipster coif, and undying love for Stuart Murdoch (one subplot involved her finding a way to buy the new Belle & Sebastian EP despite being grounded), Lane is the show’s outlet for a handful of indie-chick stereotypes. You can bet she had a hand in picking the tracks for Gilmore Girls’ surprisingly excellent soundtrack (Yo La Tengo, PJ Harvey, Pernice Brothers), and I’m guessing she’s a huge Palomar fan. Because with their three-part female harmonies, and relentless power-pop devoid of all pretenses, Palomar are designed to connect with teenage indie-gurls across the globe, much like Luscious Jackson or That Dog did a few years ago.

This is hardly to suggest that those with Y-chromosomes won’t find something to enjoy here. Palomar III should appeal to anybody in the mood for a half-hour rush of perpetually sunny, twee-guitar pop with precious harmonies. I imagine that Palomar are one of the few bands who would welcome having their music described with the usually dreaded T-word; song titles on Palomar III include “You Dance Bad,” “Knitting for Pleasure” and (teehee!) “Fried Palomari.” As such, the record is really only useful as a soundtrack for bedroom dancing with a shit-eating grin, although your summer camp crush would likely appreciate “Albacore” or “Liquor Store” on a mixtape.

But it takes skill to make music this sunny, and the attention to detail in these fourteen tracks demonstrates that Palomar take their craft seriously. The vocal harmonies are never less than pristine, and the songs contain a variety of cutesy touches (e.g. using a squeak toy as a metronome in “Work is a State Function”, a 5-second disco breakdown in “You Dance Bad”) that would probably prove distracting coming from other bands, but seem entirely appropriate for Palomar. And when it all comes together, such as on the speedy “The Lost Freshman” or album highlight “Albacore,” the result is something akin to the rush you get from downing a Mountain Dew Slurpee; sugar overload to the point where it becomes impossible to blink.

Despite being only 37 minutes, Palomar III runs on fumes towards the end, not really a big deal considering that even the sunniest of listeners will be forced to break out a Joy Division record after successive listening to any five of these songs. And I’m not kidding when I say that a substantial degree of cutesy tolerance is required to enjoy this band; killjoys who think that “Roy Walker” is the worst Belle & Sebastian song ever recorded would be advised to avoid Palomar like the plague. But if you can tolerate some winking alongside your power pop, Palomar III is heavy on instant gratification, if not depth. It is no small praise to say that this band deserves to surface on a Gilmore Girls episode sooner than later.

David M. Goldstein :: 22 September 2004 |