Palma Violets - Best Of Friends

This might go down as the year the Internet shrank within its former frame and allowed new bands to revert to old-school tactics of making a name for themselves. Savages, Pins, Palma Violets all stand out as names chased around the proverbial playground by hungry independent labels for months on end, all on the back of live shows and the odd teaser trailer or fan-footage of a gig. But let’s face it: Your parents haven’t heard of any of these bands. If you mention in conversation that there’s a lot of buzz about that Palma Violets band etc. etc., your friends won’t give a shit. Even your average Vaccines fan probably wouldn’t turn a blind eye to the mere mention of one of these band names (that’s unless this specific Vaccines fan went to a date on the recent tour which casted Savages as a supporting act, but this is all very hypothetical so forget I said anything).

‘Best Of Friends’ is the first real indication, for those of us shelled up in our bedrooms with a laptop our only solace, of where Palma Violets are heading. The real world of secret shows and word-of-mouth has been building the London four-piece up for a good chunk of the year, but the raucous live footage accompanying the Actual Studio Quality song is testament that herein exists a band with a bright future.

And it all boils down to one song with an extremely irresistible chorus. Half disco-euphoria, half-sweaty bar-brawl, it’s guitar-led, bright, breezy, consumable, listenable. You almost forget that these things don’t arrive by the dozen anymore. The video sheds light on the band’s character on stage, with Sam Fryer’s smoke-filled-lung vocals merely adding fuel to the inkling that these guys know how to have a good time. It’s party music, it’s a festival anthem in the waiting. It’s so many things. And it’s a little bit better than The Vaccines. So let’s rejoice.