While there is no shortage of bands sporting emotive, effects-saturated guitar work these days, few if any are doing so with Pallow’s delicate touch and candor. The local slowcore four-piece seem uninterested in chasing the same vague dreamscape as their contemporaries, opting to beat their own path through thick, moody tones and ominous rhythms.
Confined is the band’s latest offering, which was co-released by Suspended Soul and Ronald Records in February. On the EP, Pallow conjures a truly haunting sound while maintaining a deliberate restraint in comparison to their I’ll Build a Well demo. Confined plays like feeling your way through a pitch black house — arms outstretched, senses heightened, and wary of each turn. The uneasiness builds through opener “In Wait” and is realized in “Muted,” where whimsical arrangements are met with flashes of jarring emo violence. The intensity then sinks into the warm womb of “Synthetic Now” before pressing the listener further into the poignant and minimal closer “Inward.”
Throw a rock anywhere in Atlanta and you’re bound to hit some asshole with a Jazzmaster blasting a wall of standard issue sadness, but Pallow embodies what they all aspire to do. Don’t sleep on the real thing.
More Info
Bandcamp: pallow.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @pallowband