[a]Wild Palms[/a] share a producer with [a]These New Puritans[/a] in Gareth Jones (‘Beat Pyramid’) and there are further comparisons to be made – both dip into bleak late-’70s industrial post-punk soundscapes and possess frontmen who appear to have transcended their appearance of council-estate street urchins to preach from higher plains.
There any similarities end though, as ‘Until Spring’ blots out any potentially dissonant forces with a glittering opacity that smothers their minimal [a]New Order[/a]-cum-[a]Tears For Fears[/a] simpers.
Only on ‘Caretaker’ and ‘Not Wing Clippers’ does their third eye briefly blink; for much of the rest of this debut, the outlook’s grey.
Simon Jay Catling
5/10
