Tag: Palm Daze

Rewind Review: Palm Daze – Controls (2017)

I became aware of Palm Daze when I saw them open for Bayonne in Tucson, Arizona earlier this year. They played a cool blend of electro and psychedelia that I enjoyed. Controls is a five-song EP they put out two years ago that sounds like it could’ve been released yesterday.

The weird warping synths of “Angles Pt. 1” get the EP off to a trippy start, and then “Company Calls” takes us into full synth wave mode with bright keys, distant vocals, and sharp beats. “Angles Pt. 2” seems to nod at Vangelis‘ Blade Runner score, and why not? The synths move like slow waves across a mountain lake and the vocal effects turn the lyrics into alien communications. The title track has near hip hop drum beats behind video game synths, and “Everything, Everyday” ends the EP with big, bold synths that fade into sounds like a dwindling Morse code message.

It’s an interesting EP and one that produces different thoughts upon multiple listens.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t spend your days in a daze looking for music news and reviews. Subscribe and have them sent to your e-mail inbox.]

Live: Bayonne and Palm Daze – May 12, 2019 – 191 Toole – Tucson, AZ

I happened to be in Tucson, Arizona on the same night of the final show of Bayonne and Palm Daze‘s most recent tour. I’d wanted to see Bayonne since I’d heard his fine album Primitives and missed his set at Levitation Austin a few years ago.

They were playing at a small club in downtown Tucson called 191 Toole (named for the address). It’s a nice small venue with no bad places to stand for a view of the stage. It’s the kind of venue I’d love to own – small bar, good-sized room, ample parking, not far from a college campus. Fewer than forty people showed up for the gig, probably due to that weekend being graduation weekend for the University of Arizona. It’s a shame for those who missed it, because Bayonne and Palm Daze closed their tour with a great show.

Palm Daze, the Austin psychedelic dream-pop three-piece opened the show and played most, if not all, of their 2017 EP Controls (review coming). Eric McClung and Tyler Delaune bounced back and forth with synths, bass, and percussion while drummer Ryan Heath laid down serious chops. I was hooked by the third song.

Palm Daze (L-R: Ryan Heath, Tyler Delaune, Eric McClung)

Mr. Heath joined Bayonne (Roger Sellers) onstage for drum kit smashing while Mr. Sellers sang and played synths, guitar, and / or percussion, looping a lot of it on top of each other for great effect. Many artists would’ve phoned in a performance on the last night of a tour to a crowd of fewer than forty people, but Bayonne went for broke as he wowed the crowd with tracks of not only Primitives, but also his fine new record – Drastic Measures (again, review coming). Empty water bottles, sweaty towels, and broken drum sticks littered the stage by the time they were done.

This small show currently has the top spot on my list of best concerts of 2019, and will probably remain in the top 10 by the end of the year. Bayonne is playing Lollapalooza this year, and I can tell you his set will be a must-see if you are there.

Bayonne creating aural magic.

Keep your mind open.

[Subscribing isn’t a drastic measure. It’s pretty easy. Just drop your e-mail address into the box to your left.]