Palomino Blond by Melanie Cruz
Miami’s Palomino Blond crashed into the local scene in 2018 with the fury of an angry ocean, laying down a tidal field of sonic odds and ends that wink at you and invite close inspection. To the swirl of influences, history, attitude and raw feeling that marks this alt-rock powerhouse trio, add a new full-length album, You Feel It Too.
“We were able to tap into influences that we weren’t able to tap into before,” singer and guitarist Carli Acosta tells PureHoney about the group’s first album for Brooklyn’s Kanine Records. “We like bands like Boris, My Bloody Valentine, Smashing Pumpkins and Hum, which we’ve capitalized on.”
Engineered separately by local go-to’s Jonathan Nuñez and Ryan Haft, You Feel It Too is palpably heavier than the band’s previous output, drawing on shoegaze and grunge with hints of airy dream pop. “We’ve been collaborating with Jonathan since 2019 and ever since we got a taste for his sound, we felt it clicked with us,” Acosta says. “Similarly, when we got a taste of what Ryan can do in his space with his gear, we split it in half.”
The result is a cinematic, lush and full-bodied foundation that fully supports Acosta’s vocals without undermining the album’s titular challenge. For Acosta and bandmates in a recently changed lined-up — drummer Emma Arevalo and lead guitarist Peter Allen — the record is a pact with listeners.
“I think that some of the lyrics can be intense and revealing, but with writing music, you sometimes talk about stuff that you wouldn’t talk about otherwise,” Acosta says. “Everyone’s their worst critic, but we were asking ourselves throughout the entire process, like, does this work? Is this cohesive enough, or is it too personal?”
The answer is in the songs. Palomino Blond are blending gritty guitar riffage with undisguised emotion to create anthems that have resonated far beyond the Magic City’s shores. A tour with Tampa’s electronic hip-hop duo They Hate Change takes them through eight states. In South Florida in October, they’ll play Gramps and the III Points festival in Miami, and Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale.
Palomino Blond performs with They Hate Change, 7pm Friday, Oct. 4 at Gramps Miami. palominoblond.com ~ Abel Folgar
