Jersey Beat reviews Palm Ghosts’ Escape EP

“Following last fall’s LP, I Love You, Burn In Hell, Palm Ghosts have embarked on an ambitious plan to release a series of EPs this year, culminating in a two LP package of all twenty songs at the end of the year. They also plan to record a variety of songs that span genres for the project. Escape is the first installment, and consists of five songs over 21 minutes, ranging from sparkly dreamy pop to melancholy post-punk, and has sounds from triumphant to despondent. ‘Another Blind Machine’ is bright and poppy, with jangly guitars and sparkling synths, while ‘Quit Kidding Yourself,’ while somewhat up-tempo, is somber sounding post-punk, the song most like that previous LP. ‘Beasts’ is big and grand, the synths simulating a huge pipe organ, and it feels like a song of victory. The bass throbs while the drums provide a slow steady beat, and the guitars resound in huge warbling block chords. ‘Pulse’ is driving post pop, with airy ambient synths and a strong forward motion from the guitars, bass, and drums. The gliding baritone vocals channel the late Ian Curtis, with a timbre that’s both bright and mournful. ‘Dissonance of Dreaming’ closes the EP with a sound that’s tentative, yet hopeful. It starts to get downright bouncy, but ends very abruptly in mid phrase. Is this a message to temper our hopes and dreams with a dose of reality, because they can suddenly stop? Either way, this is an exciting first installment. I anxiously await the next one.” - Paul Silver