James Arden checks out the garage rockers latest album.
The Christian rock band from Brighton bring religion to the masses.
Recipe for modern R'n'B album: liberal helpings of guest rappers and an overdose of sexual euphemisms.
…Alvin Purple are good. Properly good. Well-worn sunburst guitars might conjure images of Springsteen-y sexiness in the minds of middle-aged teenagers with man-crush issues such as myself, but their sound’s more comparable to that of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs; perhaps slightly less trippy, but still oozing plenty of swagger. For the most part, the band take a solid, dignified backseat and let the vocal chords of Carly Humphries take centre stage, but on the rare occasions guitarist Luke Barnfather lets it go a little, you know the wait was worth it.
Now, much as I’d love to bang on about Alvin Purple all day, I suppose I’d better give the name in the title a bit of a mention. To be fair on Wild Palms, the gods seemed decidedly against them, and a rogue strap giving up the ghost, sending guitarist Bobby Krlic’s weapon of choice crashing to the floor mid-song seemed to put the cherry on the cake. Growing up on Joy Division amongst others, it would be overoptimistic to expect a cheery or interactive presence onstage, but I’ll admit I thought an emotion other than plain grumpiness might have showed itself at some point.
Sadly not: the deadpan faces of the band gradually began to rub off on the Fibbers’ audience, which during the second half of the set began to dwindle to about half its initial size. Not the sort of reception we usually like to give those swinging through York, but the temptation was admittedly understandable – grumbling their way through the set about sound quality, body language seemed to say Wednesday was just another boring day at the office for Wild Palms.
Good things, however, did indeed come to those who waited, with the closing two songs ‘Delight in Temptation’ and ‘Deep Dive’ finally summoning some genuine enthusiasm, and ensuring the night ended at its peak. The gears might not have quite meshed properly all the time, but at least we got a taste of what Wild Palms can make of their beefier live sound when the wheels are turning properly.
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