photo credit: Sam Wiseman
Palm Ghosts
The sound of an 80s prom in a war zone...located in the dead heart country music, Nashville, TN. That is the sound and spirit of Palm Ghosts, afar from the honky-tonks and pedal taverns of their adopted city as one can get. More at home in rainy Manchester or blustery Berlin, the quartet weave early cinematic dream pop and new wave with brooding post punk.
Embracing their 80’s idols like New Order, The Cure, Echo and The Bunnymen and Peter Gabriel to name a few, these Nashville transplants released 2018’s Architecture, a dark pop record with male/female vocals and their first offering echoing the sound of 4AD an Factory Records’ brand of post-punk . Since then, they have built upon that release with a steady stream of songs invigorating the modern era with the 80’s youth ethos.
During a worldwide pandemic, Palm Ghosts recorded and released Lifeboat Candidate, a giant ear worm on unrest, isolation, and frustration influenced by the jagged art punk of Gang of Four and Wire.
Their next offering, The Lost Frequency, felt more whimsical and celebratory. More nostalgic and less like a war...More like a prom. However, the lyrics still bring confrontation to the forefront, and remind us that normalcy is still devastating.
Their latest offering, Post Preservation, shows yet another side of Palm Ghosts. There are songs about love. There’s almost a hint of optimism. If you squint your eyes, a light is showing through the cracks. But don’t worry there’s still plenty of darkness and discontent to balance it out. After all, it is 2022.
Like the soundtrack to a long lost John Hughes film, Post Preservation twinkles with warm nostalgia for a world that no longer exists, except for in our hearts and minds. The world is ending, so don’t be a wallflower, get on the dance floor!