Only the other day, an acquaintance of mine tweeted that “(he has) the utmost respect for any musician that, after hearing (The Dillinger Escape Plan’s début full-length) ‘Calculating Infinty’, didn’t head into the garden and burn their instruments immediately”, his point being that the incomprehensible level of musicianship displayed on that album could not be emulated, let alone bettered. Surrey’s Palm Reader, however, seem to disagree that the Dillinger blueprint is off-limits and that there was a gap in the market for blistering, bellicose tech-metal that was theirs for fair gain on their second album, ‘Beside The Ones We Love’. Is this the sign of true contenders to DEP’s throne or sheer aping of the New Jerseyian kings of noise? Unfortunately, it lies more in the latter court, but it’s not a bad attempt.
There are far worse bands to choose to rip off; Dillinger are one of those rare bands that have never really released a bad or even a particularly mediocre album, and in a musical era where the sub-genre of mathcore is violently unfashionable, it’s long overdue a mini-revival. Admittedly, this isn’t just a like-for-like copycat exercise; the aural onslaught has been tempered with more melodic, progressive segments that fans of Bastions and Cult of Luna may appreciate. However, the similarities between ‘Beside The Ones We Love’ and basically any Dillinger record after ‘Calculating Infinity’ are prevalent from the beginning, especially in Josh McKeown’s vocal – it’s no bad thing to want to sound like Greg Puciato, the man’s voice is phenomenal, but McKeown’s scream doesn’t have the same texture, richness or sheer “oomph” as Puciato’s, paling slightly in comparison. If you compare this album’s opener ‘I Watched The Fire Chasing My Tongue’ to something like ‘Panasonic Youth’ (from ‘Miss Machine’), both are exhilirating in their own way, but in terms of the irrepressible power and conviction with which they are delivered by their respective lead men, the latter wins out every time.
Though the comparisons are distracting, the album undoubtedly has its strengths. Palm Reader’s first record showed promise and this has developed their sound further, and the addition of Dan Olds on drums has been a stroke of genius from the Woking boys, clearly the shining light in the quintet’s instrumental arsenal. Unfortunately, buoyed by the galvanisation of their rhythm section, ‘Beside The Ones We Love’ lets ambition run riot a little and leads to a fairly bloated album in parts; while 10 tracks may not seem like a slog from the outset, with two very similar tracks in the form of ‘Sing Out, Survivor’ and finale ‘Unabridged’ forming the only wholly deviating material from the album’s formula and comprising nearly 15 minutes of running time between them, this album could have done with trimming the fat a little, allowing the brawn it possesses to shine through a little more.
Palm Reader seem to be doing well amongst an immensely wide peer group, and this release should turn even more heads; it’s just a shame they are grasping on the coattails of scene leaders to do so. If I were from Woking I’d be pretending I were from anywhere else too, but Surrey isn’t quite the Garden State, and this isn’t The Dillinger Escape Plan, just a fairly decent stab that ultimately falls short – as ‘The Wire’ character D’Angelo Barksdale said, when comparing a game of chess to a drug empire, “you come at the king you best not miss” – this, unfortunately, shows Palm Reader up as the rook-ies they are.
OLLIE CONNORS