Fake Palms Lemons (Aqua Blue & Black Swirl)

Fake Palms isn’t hiding behind anything on "Lemons". They might, in fact, be fully exposing themself as locked-on post-punk, drill-punch, dream-pop, swoony surf and a whole lotta noise attacking from various angles – on this goosepimply blast of Krautrockin’ wickedness. "Lemons", the 3rd record from Fake Palms (aka Michael le Riche), is slippery, spiky, not a little psych-y and more than a little lyrically sour. More than anything, though, Lemons is the record where Le Riche – who also plays in the steamy synth-pop outfit Sauna and formerly of art-rock troupe the Darcys – fully exposes his talents as a bona fide popsmith. The jangle of “Visions” evokes Lee Ranaldo linking up with the bubblegum-savvy early Wire, while “Satellite” surfs spectacularly along it's rhythm track to a tingly, soaring chorus that’s impossible to shake and the similarly haunting “Civil Liberties” manages the trick of sounding wistfully dystopian. “This record is the most direct thing I’ve ever done,” says Le Riche. “All the distorted guitars playing 16th-note riffs in different time signatures, washes of noise and buried vocals are basically gone. In their place we made a record that’s lean and a punch to the gut. There are still some moments where the guitars get a little tricky but, in general, we tried to be as immediate as possible. The songs are all fairly short and there are almost no extra production tricks. I was inspired by records like the Dead Boys’ Young, Loud and Snotty and the Buzzcocks’ Another Music in a Different Kitchen. Maybe because of what was going on in the world at the time, or maybe just as a reaction to the last Fake Palms record – it just felt necessary to kick the door down instead of knocking.”