Audio By Carbonatix
With the demise of ’90s bands like Silver Scooter and Butterglory, the universe was left with an aching void. Indie rock got operatic. Emo got numb. So where does that leave your average devotee of spastic wussiness and crackly pop? In fine shape, actually, as long as Palisades is around. The quartet, which will be tickling eardrums at the Larimer Lounge on Thursday, January 13, with Landlord Land and FOMA, was born a year ago out of a batch of New Mexican emigrés — most notably singer/guitarist Johnny Cassidy, formerly of Czars cohort Venus Diablo. The group also counts Colder Than Fargo bassist Joel Michor among its ranks, but its sparkling melodicism is a far cry from the more saturnine tones of its forebears. On a pair of self-released, living-room-concocted CD singles, the outfit cavorts through ragged jangling and adenoidal vocals with all the collective élan of a grade-school gymnastics meet. Even “Sailor Song,” as brooding as it is, sounds less like an adaptation of Moby-Dick and more like the soundtrack to a funeral for a goldfish. Which fits the aw-shucks splendor and twitchy kinetics of Palisades just perfectly.
