palomar
New York City, New York, United States
Music
Press
"Brooklyn's Palomar makes indie-pop sound like it wandered through a cloud of gamma radiation and wound up with superpowers: lurid muscles, torn jeans, the whole nine. Rachel Warren's singing is simple and tonally pure, with the same mix of velvety sweetness and skyscraping grandeur that makes boys swoon for Jenny Lewis...." - Pitchfork
"This is a very strong LP, with Palomar rivaling the Essex Green for the title of Most Underrated Indie Rock Band Ever.... All things, forests is an exercise in the tension between exuberance and cool, joy and darkness, seeing the forest for the trees." - Austin Chronicle
"All things, forests’ momentum and energy shows that, sonically, whatever setbacks have dogged the band have bolstered its enthusiasm, not diminished it. Would someone please explain why Palomar isn’t ruling the airwaves?" - Textura Magazine
"Like the Bangles with a death wish, this indie-rock girl gang (and a token guy) begin their fourth CD with Shangri-Las harmonies on a song about being buried..." (3.5 stars) - SPIN Magazine
"Like all Palomar albums, this one is an instant party, as immediately likeable and accessible as the others. And yet it's somehow more serious and weighty and important than the ones that preceded it. No one ever let the old girl groups grow up...once they were through singing about boys and cars that was it. Palomar are still learning new things about life, themselves, songs and people, and All Things, Forests is all the stronger for it." - Dusted
"Things aren't always what they seem, so don't call the three-girl/one-guy Brooklyn-based quartet Palomar a 'pop band' just because you can tap your foot and bop your head to their music. "I think if a song has a structure that's melodic and catchy, people like to call that 'pop,' " says singer/songwriter Rachel Warren, "The thing that really bothers me about people calling us 'poppy' or 'cute' is that they definitely have more adjectives at their disposal when they're talking about bands that aren't comprised as women." The lady's got a point. The band's third album, Palomar III: Revenge of Palomar is not a far cry from Weezer's Blue Album, and you wouldn't call that catchy, would you? Palomar only looks like the innocent flower. Their catchy melodies and hooks are so intoxicating that they practically force you to get up and do your best spazzy-dance. But with a closer listen, Palomar proves to be the serpent under the flower. Their record's sarcastic song titles and tongue-in-cheek lyrics subtly snicker at the happy melodies. And Dale W. Miller, the band's drummer and only male member, can attest to the fact that "cute" is not exactly the most appropriate word to describe his bandmates, who never let him forget that he's in the presence of all-powerful estrogen: "Dale is fortunate. He has us to tell him what he's thinking," teases guitarist/singer Christina Prostano. But Dale still has his own opinion of the band. "In guy bands, girl bands, whatever - lots of things get in the way: whether its ego, politics, or drug problems," he says. "But for this band, everything's just cruisin'." Bassist/singer Sarah Brockett, who was once the sole woman in an all male band, agrees, "When I joined, we all just had a similar sensibility. We didn't bend to the trend of the moment. The people in our audience are not looking for the next cool band, and we don't try to appeal through style or fashion, we just hope people like the songs." And that's a sensibility that has nothing to do with being a girl."
-Rebecca Kumar, Nylon Magazine [10.04 - Nylon Magazine
"PICKS / This female-fronted Brooklyn quartet achieves pop-with-punch perfection on its third disc. Check out "Albacore," where warp-speed vocals meet irresistable hooks to make for a rocking good time."
-D.A. Teen People [10.04]
- Teen People
"Mixing indie-pop and early ’80s British punk isn’t exactly untrod ground in New York at the moment, but Gotham quartet Palomar rock with a sweet and intimate brilliance that’s sorely underrepresented in that scene. On their third LP, the band continues to improve upon their characteristic sound of infectious pop melodies, the unique vocal harmonies bringing in a taste of not-so-annoying twee that also makes them stand out in the NY-new-new-wave glut.
ATTN: Sensitive boys, hip girls, sensitive boys looking to impress hip girls
KEY TRACKS: "Albacore," "You Dance Bad," "The Snapper"
OF NOTE: The album was originally slated for release on the now-defunct Kindercore label."
-CMJ Review [8.04]
- CMJ Monthly
Discography
Palomar I
Palomar II
Palomar III: Revenge of Palomar
Palomar 3.5 (EP)
All Things, Forests
Live in Chicago (available at Emusic)
Sense & Antisense (forthcoming)
Photos
Bio
Palomar writes thoughtfully crafted pop songs that exist, seemingly unconsciously, in stark and refreshing contrast to the exhausting march of garage rockers and 80s knockoffs that trudge anonymously along the commercial airwaves today. With catchy hooks and delicious melodies grounded by driving guitars, Palomar is a band whose goal is simply to express itself uniquely, timelessly, and with endearing optimism.
Hailing from Brooklyn but named after an observatory in California, Palomar are: Rachel Warren (singer/guitarist), Christina Prostano (guitarist/keyboard/singer), Sarah Brockett (bassist/singer) and the lone testosterone, Dale W. Miller on drums. The band originated in 1998 with the instant, 500-print run release of their self-titled, self-released debut album Palomar. Their Frankensteinian meld of spirited indie and angular punk immediately won them comparisons to Seattle's Fastbacks and England's Talulah Gosh.
Their aptly named sophomore album, Palomar II, was released in 2002 by The Self-Starter Foundation; the album was met with unbridled enthusiasm by such nationals as Billboard, the New York Times, and the New Yorker. Palomar also began touring nationally at this time, playing dates with alt. rock untouchables Spoon, Ted Leo, Mates of State, The Wrens, Luna, Dressy Bessy, and many more. Their raw guitars combined with charming melodies helped lay the foundation for the aughts New York sound and today's renaissance of Brooklyn bands.
Their next record was completed and scheduled to be released on Kindercore Records when Kindercore suddenly closed its doors due to financial inadequacy. Despite this major setback, Palomar III: Revenge of Palomar, was released in 2004, again on The Self-Starter Foundation. It revealed a maturing sound as Palomar gained a reflective worldliness that gave its third album satisfying weight while maintaining Palomar's playful intelligence, humor, and enthusiasm.
In 2006 Palomar found a new home at Misra Records, who released its fourth album, All Things, Forests (2007). Its darkest album to date, ATF presents a delicate balance of rocking hooks and deeply introspective lyrics that express the tangled feelings of loss, doubt, joy, wistfulness and the struggle to keep going. And, after many years of toil, Palomar achieved the all-too-rare self-revelation that "We are a band. Not a collective, not some pseudonym for a cagey and eccentric auteur, not a high-concept performance troupe. We are a BAND."
That sentiment continues to ring true as the band plans the release of its fifth full-length album, Sense & Antisense, slated for release in late 2011. Always at work and at play, Palomar includes some 8-track basement recording on the new album and adds keyboard to create a new batch of songs that are both playful and mature. After nearly a decade of being a band together, something not many Brooklyn bands can say, Palomar has mastered their craft and stuck to their guns to produce an album that is true to itself and the band.
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