Album Review : Palm Fronds by The Double

Released in 2004 on Catsup Plate records.

The Double are an experimental / indie rock band from Brooklyn, NY. I guess they used to be more math rock orientated. They've been around since 2002. On this album, the drummer hand a broken hand, so The Double were forced to tinker with samplers and drum machines with mixed results.

The Good : Lots of experimental noise. The songs sound like ordinary, nice little indie rock songs that were put into some sort of busted mixing board that made the whole thing glitched out and fucked up sounding. Very noisy, distorted, fractured and refreshing. Definitely original stuff. Relentlessly experimental music coupled with otherwise nice, normal, singer, songwriter stuff.

The Bad : Some songs seem pointlessly abrasive and will very likely grate on some nerves. The songs, for the most part, are mid-tempo and, many of them, don't really stick out or are overly memorable in any way. People who like their music to make sense and to be accessible will find this music very frustrating.


In conclusion, this album was a very refreshing, and at times, difficult listen. Lots of good ideas and not so good ones, but mostly the album is very successful. The addition of noise and distortion doesn't ever seem forced or half assed. The mixture of otherwise opposite genres works well here. Some songs are still very pretty and friendly. The majority of this album will make you think you blew a speaker or your stereo is broken. Lots of tastefully used static and fuzz. The band says they made all kind of mistakes, but instead of learning from them, they left them in and just developed on them. I think that's pretty admirable.

Fans of Smog, Animal Collective, Destroyer might like this. I think people who are bored with clean sounding, normal, everyday sounding will welcome these crazy sounds with open arms. The Double have stumbled upon a very original sound.

3.4/5

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Music

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[heyjudas]

a woman spooning a deer man?!

[YoureWrongImRight]

Yeah, she can't keep her hands off of him.

[polepole10000]

Thank you! I love this noise/accidental approach! The more adventurous the better! Reminds me a little of a friendlier 'creature comforts' by Black Dice

[YoureWrongImRight]

I 100% agree. These guys did get a lot of Black Dice meets whatever comparrisions.

[RickyShoreSings]

do you like battles? at first i liked them but then i stopped knowing. the cover is a little bit of this and a little bit of that. god, i hate interpol. i love how record labels with have indie rock versions of nysnc like the strokes, interpol, and other shitty bands, and indie kids will go along with it like teeny boppers go along with lady ga ga. i'm going to tear my hair out when i listen to this. sounds ok but i don't know. excellent review as always!

[YoureWrongImRight]

I don't mind Battles. I saw them live and it was pretty cool. I may have to review them soon, cause you're not the first person to ask me about them. This music is just meant to relax you and make you think your speakers may be fucked.

[fluffthebunny]

Look up "The Double Idiocy" on YouTube. That's their only music video I know of, pretty poppy.

[shrineofmadlaughter]

i have the same problem with the "Flight Of The Behemoth" booklet by Sunn O))), hard to tell which one is supposed to be the front...

great review

[YoureWrongImRight]

I haven't heard their early stuff, but some blogs described it as bluesy math rock, whatever the hell that means. Too bad they don't have anything on youtube.

[fluffthebunny]

The Double weren't a math rock band, they were just more straight-forward rock on their album Loose In The Air. But nonetheless, this album's pretty rad too.