Leveling Up the Chaos: Palette Knife’s Keyframe Locks Into Precision and Heart
Columbus Ohio trio Palette Knife is back with their third record Keyframe. Off the strength of their most recent album New Game+, the band doubles down -delivering a ball of energetic riffing and well written melodies that display a band-in-sync hitting their groove.
2023’s excellent New Game+ sported earnest lyrics, littered with video game/pop culture references, over an outpouring of frantic, mathy instrumentals. The fidgety guitars and sunny timbre of vocalist Alec Licata’s voice on songs like “Quotients” ring familiar to current emo acts such as D.C. powerhouse Origami Angel. However, the band does not shy away from a variety of glitchy interludes, poppy melodies and even balladry, demonstrating a confidence in the diversity of their songwriting. Albeit, a more compact product, Keyframe shoots to honor this range while still keeping the energy up. Opener “Phoenix Down” builds from a driving drum beat into a thick, widening wall of distortion encompassing alternating rhythmic and bouncy riffs. The vocals come in for the first time almost two-thirds through the song and when they do, the tension releases. Momentarily, of course, until the stakes rise again into a climactic sung/screamed outro. This command of tension-release exemplifies underlying strength of composition beneath the hard hitting instrumental.
This is seen well melodically on highlight single “Sleep Paralysis”. The song built around a catchy, bobbing instrumental sounds right at home adjacent to early 2000’s pop punk such as New Found Glory. The chorus is exceptionally sticky, threatening to roll around in your head after just a listen or two. The intro riff deconstructs into a groovy bridge until brought back home into a final chorus. The band sounds and feels in lockstep with one another. The track also boasts Palette Knife’s brand of disarming, thoughtful lyricism. Instead of going for a dramatic turn, Licata sings “Everything/everyone that makes you feel good, feels bad”, with an “it is what it is” shrug that is endearing and familiar. Despite the malaise of the subject matter, the track feels sunny and immediate. “Honor’s English” and closer “ISS” tone down the intensity, the former a waltz-y picked track with a great performance by bassist Chris McGrath and drummer Aaron Queener. The vocal performance towards the beginning of the song is intimate with good melodic detail on lines such as “Everything makes sense in the morning”. The latter is a foggy acoustic track that feels like a long deep breath. The production on the song adds a vastness that, along with Licata’s vocal performance, evokes the kind of reflective feeling you get when thinking over a relationship at the end of a long night.
First single “Prototype V.2” is a fitting representation of the strengths of the band in a nutshell. The song starts on a 7/8 riff that switches time to a physical, frenetic verse underlined by excellent drumming from Queener. The track then opens up to a softer, dance-y groove that builds into a breakdown that dares to listener to not bob their head.
The song feels made to be heard in a live environment with band firing on all cylinders instrumentally.
The authenticity and endearing nature of Palette Knife is their calling card and this is even more evident on Keyframe. The record refines the strengths of their previous releases into a concise, well-crafted work. Whether you arrive for the references, the riffs or the writing, Keyframe delivers all, and then some.
