Pallow ‘Idle Minds’

Getting back into a normal routine has not been easy after Christmas. I overslept by forty minutes this morning and rifled through the washing basket for a jumper (post-sniff test), and leapt onto the train with mere seconds to spare. Job well done, I thought. Then I realised I had chosen a seat next to the swottiest kids I have ever witnessed in my entire life. Incredibly well spoken, with the crispest RP I have heard for a long time, they were playing some kind of game with their mother (or Mater may be more appropriate in this context) in which they had to name as many ‘concrete nouns’ as they could for each letter of the alphabet (no, I don’t know either). ‘Quota’ cried the youngest, a boy of around six, (incorrect, a concrete noun is something you can see, touch, hear, taste, or smell); ‘Lambert’ squawked his elder brother (again, INCORRECT IT’S NOT EVEN A NOUN YOU CLEFT), nearly knocking his pencils to the floor of the carriage. I am loathe to criticise children, and as a former ‘gifted’ (read:nerdy) child, I would never discourage bookworminess in the young, but Jesus Christ these two were insufferable. It’s not their fault really, I’m fairly certain mother has been grooming them for private school entry exams from the moment they could lift their heads unsupported. All’s not lost though, they will undoubtably grow out of it in their teens – even the bourgeoisie experience the growing pains of adolescence. Still, I think these two are going to grow up into those kids who remind the teacher to set homework at the end of class, rather than the (normal) kind who sneak fags behind the bike sheds at lunchtime. Speaking of adolescent growing pains, the debut album ‘Blueprints For An Empty Vessel‘ form Atlantan slowcore band Pallow is taking me right back to those angsty days. Particularly good is ‘Holding’, with emo-tastic melodic guitar riffs and anthemic wall of sound climaxes – perfect listening for fans of bands like Low who are after something a little heavier. Enjoy (and don’t be a swot).