Rough Trade records have a new best friend: Palma Violets

  2012 marks 25 years since the dissolution of one of the most mournful and inimitable bands in indie music, The Smiths, and although Morrissey’s acerbic quip of eating his own testicles before reuniting with his ol’ cronies  is something to jeer, at least Rough Trade records have had apt talent scouts plum picking the derelict bars of England.

  Enter Palma Violets, a raucous English indie band fronted by Sam Fryer. Although they have recently arrived on the music scene, throngs of teeny-bopper misfits and libertine dreams have thrown their prepubescent glances their way-as well as some of the hipsters and punk-isn’t-dead plebs. NME has already lauded the Palma Violets with enough compliments to suffice a recalcitrant 6 year old entering a beauty pagent through the puppet strings of her frumpy mother. As I grew up around the indie music scene in Brighton, England and went to university there, I feel that I can pluck out the bands that have the right sound-which Palma Violets have certainly achieved through their lead off single, “Best of Friends”. The bass player, Chilli Jesson, carries the track with a steady fluidity to it, whilst the guitars are stripped and gritty like that of an English kitchen sink drama with mild jangles here and there (as if Noel Gallagher himself had vindicated them). The lyrics are generally non-sense (that never hindered upon great music, i.e. “I am the Walrus”, “Subterranean Homesick Blues”), but that is only due to the muffled styling of the mixing and crunch of the instruments. The exasperated ‘Oh Lord’ lyric that lead singer Sam Fryer chews out is the highlight of the track for me, evoking a Jagger-esque quality that has spit and zeal. The chorus itself-I wanna be your best friend-although ostensibly childish and forthright, could also be perceived as vulnerable and candid like that of any solo John Lennon track (i.e. ‘Jealous Guy’, ‘Mother’, ‘Love’ etc.).

  Best of Friends conjures up the sacred consolidation neo-indie rock fans have been privy to with the like of The Libertines, The Cribs and the Arctic Monkeys. Perhaps I’m being too optimistic, but I feel that the future is potentially bright for Palma Violets, which can only be compounded by the fact that they have been signed to one of the pioneering indie record labels that has produced The Smiths, The Libertines, The Strokes, Super Furry Animals and Arcade Fire. Surely, if you’re looking to relieve the ennui of the bands that have been emerging relentlessly onto the music scene, check out the Palma Violets.

Check out their first release on Rough Trade records “Best of Friends”.