Parlor Walls is the collaboration between guitarist / vocalist Alyse Lamb, who used to dance ballet (indie rock seems littered with former ballerinas these days -- why, i can barely swing a dead Baryshnikov without hitting one...), and drummer / keyboardist Chris Mulligan. With just those two members, the band manages to create an unholy racket.
EXO is their first release since their debut LP back in March of 2017, and their fourth release overall.
Neuromancer starts off with a faint keyboardy drone, and then a clear female voice comes in, and for a few seconds you think that Parlor Walls make some kind of over-literate NPR pop. But that feeling lasts less than 5 seconds, as drums and squealing guitar come in, the vocalist/guitarist Alyse Lamb wailing with both voice and guitar at once. This is keyboardy post-punk.
Love Complex is more guitarish. Lamb plays her guitar through some echo, making this have a slight shoegaze feel. In time she starts riffing harder, bringing the rock. Not bad.
Isolator features Lamb singing like Siouxsie while her guitar channels Joy Division and the keyboards go crazy, all over a steady beat. These are both so busy in making this song, and yet it really works.
And finally Parlor Walls bring the electroclash on Low Vulture. Mulligan’s drumming is a steady tapping while Lamb growls away with voice and guitar. This is my favorite of the four tracks here.
Not bad, really. I am curious to hear more from this act.
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