Palps
Palps are likely one of the most ambitious bands who have ever submitted anything to the blog. Their album, Black Heart, involves eight ‘chapters’ that are all part of a short film about the project. The last time we heard of anyone doing anything similar was when The Lumineers gave us the ten parts of III, which, when combined, told a much larger story. Make no mistake, Palps sound nothing like The Lumineers and we should have just kept our big mouths shut. Black Heart is definitely the caliber of work that you’d expect from an indie rock band who has taken on such a zealous endeavor. The eight tracks, combined, are a story that highlights the daily struggles of navigating one’s deteriorating mental health and how it affects everyone involved. Speaking about the album, vocalist and lyricist Alex Gray states, "Black Heart at its core is about how traumatic events and mental health struggles can leave you hardened, no longer able to express love in the same way that you used to and can often lead to you hurting those closest to you, without you even realizing."
On that note, let us introduce you to the track that caught our ears: “Imprint.” Even without knowing any of the aforementioned details, this song is strong enough to stand on its own and, if you like it, you will no doubt enjoy Black Heart’s other seven entries. This tale of a failing relationship begins with a solitary guitar, but builds throughout its course, complete with pounding drums and gang vocals. By the time it arrives at the bridge, the listener is fully invested, with the lyrics: “This is all I’ve ever wanted, so why is it not what I want,” which, we assume, is a statement on how trauma can steal the joy from anything that was once considered enjoyable. At over five minutes in length, you will walk away from it feeling like you’ve experienced every aspect of a love that is doomed because one party has been rendered emotionless. We hope that you find it as heart-wrenching as we did.
For a debut record, this has got to be the most work we’ve ever seen go into the entire process– especially from an indie band– its conception, the songwriting, the metaphorical darkness that resides inside of everyone, all the way to its execution… If you don’t have goosebumps, you are dead inside. And we managed to get through the entire first two paragraphs without even mentioning the video for “Imprint,” which is fantastic and sure to win you over if our words have failed:
This is the part of the review where we apologize for not talking about the entire record in as much detail as we did the single. This is also the part where we tell you that you should purchase the entire thing from Bandcamp, starting with “Imprint:”
-TM