1/13/2015

Review: Sister Palace - "Count Yr Blessings"

Sister Palace - Count Yr Blessings
(Self-Released 2015)

Sister Palace's upcoming effort, Count Yr Blessings, is a tumultuous clash between sinister guitaristry and fragmented bits of pop sentiment coated in the warmth of dulcet vocals and a heavy blanket of reverb. The Portland quartet channels the primal, distortion-laden sound of early Sonic Youth: loose and noisy, but displaying a keen eye for texture. The instrumentation on "Corporeality" reaches roaring, explosive crescendos as it reaches its wordless chorus, yet the song also features a jarringly hushed bridge, peppered with shimmering harmonics that mesh perfectly with the plod of twangy bass. Count Yr Blessings' final, untitled, cut veers into Beat Happening territory, hyper-cute vocals gliding bouyantly atop droning chords. Taking into account the short flashes of avant-garde brilliance that crop up over the course of the album like the blasts of gnarled energy that bookend "CFP" and the noisy crawl of "providence", the album is an incredible, diverse effort that puts an up-to-date spin on no-wave.

Listen to "Corporeality" below.