Palehound
Dry Food
Reviewed by: Max Miller
The band Palehound will almost certainly draw comparisons to fellow Allston, MA skronk-rockers (and Exploding In Sound Records alums) Speedy Ortiz. “Molly,” the opening cut on their debut full-length Dry Food, features the kind of bouncing guitar lines and clever wordplay that has become the uncontested domain of Speedy’s own Sadie Dupuis. Perhaps the fact that Palehound vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Ellen Kempner is Dupuis’ roommate is making the comparison seem more apparent. But while Palehound may have some similarities to Speedy (and, admittedly, much of the EIS roster), they bring in some authentic bedroom-pop vibes that give them a character all their own.
Where the aforementioned opener and numbers like “Cinnamon” and “Cushioned Caging” crackle with restless energy, much of the rest of Dry Food is filled out with more downtempo, melancholy fare — “sad bastard music,” to borrow a term from High Fidelity — reminiscent of the group’s 2013 Bent Nail EP. The title track houses the strongest example of Palehound in this mode, with its simple-yet-catchy melodies and chorus of “You made beauty a monster to me/ So I’m kissing all the ugly things I see.”
Many records these days, including even Speedy Ortiz’s Foil Deer, suffer from a sameness of vision where too few ideas are pursued over the course of too long an album. Dry Food doesn’t quite run for half an hour, and yet it feels like a more deliberate, fully-realized album. Sure, I could compare Palehound to a lot of other groups going these days, but one thing I can say about Palehound that I can’t about most bands is that I’m eager to hear more.
Rating: Bad-Ass
