Review of Palo Alto's CD "Every Way To Fall"

Palo Alto: Every Way To Fall

Palo Alto return with this 3 song promo on Valentine Records but ultimately it's fairly flat and the year and a half away seems to have done little for the band's sound. A sound which in fairness is at least more coherent across all the tracks than on previous outings - there is still plenty of My Bloody Valentine and now some Curve, with even a vague whisper of the Sundays. But in all it's rather dated, and what truly holds this back is the washed out and at times flat vocals. Just because you are singing choir boy high notes and are low down in the mix, it doesn't excuse a complete lack of melody. The guitars sweep around and offer plenty of Mogwai inspired knob twiddling but their more picket fences of sound as opposed to walls. Not one tune stays with its listener and maybe the impact is carried live as there has to be a reason Valentine persist in their promotion.

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