Fake Palms

Lemons (Aqua Blue & Black Swirl)

Release date: September 16, 2022

Label: Hand Drawn Dracula

Fake Palms isnâ€™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 â€“ on this goosepimply blast of Krautrockinâ€™ 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 â€“ who also plays in the steamy synth-pop outfit Sauna and formerly of art-rock troupe the Darcys â€“ fully exposes his talents as a bona fide popsmith. The jangle of â€œVisionsâ€ evokes Lee Ranaldo linking up with the bubblegum-savvy early Wire, while â€œSatelliteâ€ surfs spectacularly along it's rhythm track to a tingly, soaring chorus thatâ€™s impossible to shake and the similarly haunting â€œCivil Libertiesâ€ manages the trick of sounding wistfully dystopian. â€œThis record is the most direct thing Iâ€™ve ever done,â€ says Le Riche. â€œAll 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 thatâ€™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 Boysâ€™ Young, Loud and Snotty and the Buzzcocksâ€™ 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 â€“ it just felt necessary to kick the door down instead of knocking.â€ 1. Drain 2. Visions 3. Satellite 4. Wasted Silhouettes 5. Civil Liberties 6. The Curl 7. Flags 8. Bloom 9. Soft Fear

Order vinyl: