Garage rock is as garage rock goes; some of it’s great, but a large chunk of it is mostly forgettable. Which is why it’s always refreshing to see a garage rock act come along and do things differently, be it with a new style or an abnormally high quality sound.
One such band is The Bots, who came onto the scene with their first full album back in 2014 riding the waves of art rock bands like TV on the Radio and sporting a sound like that of Hockey Dad mixed with Kongos. “Pink Palms” was their debut album on a label of any kind, having premiered after three self-released albums.
In a genre where most bands are predominantly comprised of Caucasian musicians, The Bots is comprised of brothers Mikaiah and Anaiah Lei, who are African American. The duo hails from Los Angeles, and have been described as being in the genres of garage rock, garage punk and indie rock. The brothers are also fairly young, having recorded their first self-released album while one was 15 and the other was 12. In short, The Bots stand out in a crowd of other acts by background alone, and they’ve got the music to back it up.
Onto the album itself, “Pink Palms” stays fairly low distortion, with laid back, occasionally harmonized vocals and some slightly crunchy overdrive. The album also features some light synth work on songs like “All Of Them (Wide Awake),” accompanied by the ever-present, upbeat rush of the standard drum kit. Most songs on the album are in fact fairly upbeat, ranging from “high octane” to “enthusiastic jam” levels of excitement. As is expected, the most upbeat songs are at the beginning of the album, with the less upbeat songs coming in towards the last two tracks. The first four songs are exemplary of the band’s style as a whole and are probably the strongest on the album.
The immediate talking points of the album are clear by the second song, “Blinded.” The first is the professional level of polish applied to this debut. While the duo has self-released three prior albums, this is still fairly impressive, especially given the age of the brothers at the time of prior releases. This album not only shows that a good amount of work went into rehearsing, recording, and production, but also that The Bots have worked down a solid style. Whether or not they’ve found their “sound” is up for debate, but if they haven’t yet, these brothers are certainly on their way there. Though this album isn’t necessarily game changing, with this level of talent and production quality, their next album could really be something.
The second talking point is both a strength and a downfall of the album. While it’s great that the band has a style down, the consistency of the album borders on being excessive. A good album should be fairly consistent in some respects, and avoid throwing too much at the listener at once. It should keep a fairly consistent but varied ride throughout. If that sounds contradictory, that’s because it is. It’s a daunting task to put together an album that sounds like a coherent piece while not letting your songs bleed together, and “Pink Palms” hasn’t quite made it to that perfect balance.
There’s nothing too outlandish on there, so that’s good, and the songs aren’t just some homogenous mess, so that’s not bad either. But at times when listening to this album, it seems as though the band’s holding back, that the highs and lows are just alright at best, never venturing far past that safe area in the middle. The album feels a lot like the rollercoaster ride at the state fair, better than the one at county fair but still not as good as the ones at a good amusement park.
Despite this, “Pink Palms” is a strong debut into the garage rock genre, and an enjoyable ride overall. Given the talent displayed on this album, it is highly recommended that the reader keep an eye out for this dynamic duo’s next entry, and perhaps pickup “Pink Palms” if you haven’t done so already. It’s not perfect, but it’s above average and enjoyable; sometimes that’s really all you need.
