ALBUM REVIEW: Eye On The Bat – Palehound

Indie rockers PALEHOUND have just put out their third full-length album Eye On The Bat, a record that aims to explore the periods of before and after when it comes to the dangers related to fantasy, heartbreak and personal growth. PALEHOUND itself, a band project created by El Kempner, has always aimed to be something raw and vulnerable with their long list of personable lyrics and stories that aren’t afraid to cover some harsh truths. In a summary, it represents that proud feeling of coming out the other side of learning and growing from mistakes.

PALEHOUND don’t keep the listener waiting and start out strong with the album’s opening track Good Sex that immediately leans into the world of cool, angsty vocals and instruments to match that only leave you intrigued as you wait to hear what comes next. In a way you may expect some type of instrumental breakdown, yet while that doesn’t happen, we can still hear the frustration bubbling up to the surface which is then unleashed once the band move onto Independence Day that acts as the other side of the relationship depicted earlier. As the day of the breakup is recounted, it’s immediately apparent how talented Kempner is when it comes to song-writing, with all the small details mentioned helping to set the scene in a way that has the listener sharing the same emotions regardless of whether you’ve been through the same scenario or not.

And that’s the ongoing theme when it comes to Eye On The Bat: Kempner‘s outstanding ability of telling stories and having the listener share the feelings and emotion that she has been through. The album takes us through anger and frustration as heard on the alternative punk track The Clutch; the title track would be perfect to play alongside a coming-of-age drama film where the main character takes a long walk once having an epiphany; and U Want It U Got It is a song that uses both fast acoustic guitar and electronic beats that manages to feel both wholesome yet somewhat angsty.

It would be easy enough to sit here and go through how each track has an ability to capture you, to leave you with important questions to ponder on and to have you relate to brutal honesty. Eye On The Bat feels like a record that should be prescribed to anyone going through difficult life moments and feelings of uncertainty, something to listen to as an assurance that they’re not alone and everything will work itself out in the end.

Rating: 8/10

Eye On The Bat is out now via Polyvinyl Records.

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