T in the Park review:Palma Violets, King Tuts tent

THERE was no doubt that ‘Best of Friends’ was going to be Palma Violets’ best received song, but what was not as expected was guitarist Samuel Fryer’s decision to hurl his full beverage over the crowd seconds before the song’s opening notes.

Palma Violets: Beery, riffy and sparky enough to go the distance. Picture: David P Scott

The pint’s soaring-then-plummeting trajectory is a neat symbol for a path many bands as hyped as Palma Violets have followed, and the Lambeth collective only need to look to 2010’s NME Awards Tour alumni The Drums, or last year’s fellow Londoners Tribes (who have failed to make an impressive impact outside The Big Smoke and at Balado this year) for warnings that a positively-received first album is not enough to carry your career forward.

In our disposable culture, bands can disappear as fast as they arrive. Words once sung by thousands can easily fall on deaf ears only a year later.

But Palma Violets appear to be clothed in different material from these aforementioned groups. Today’s set, embellished with ‘Step Up For The Cool Cats’ and ‘We Found Love’, has energetic strips strewn across a patchwork of youthful clamour, and is a fine example of their future promise.

Catchy choruses, rising guitar riffs, gravel-throated howls and the odd organ take the place of easily marketable guises. Although Palma Violets may spark familiar fires, a strong second album and a string of highly regarded live performances should ensure their spark will not be extinguished.

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