Search - Parlor James :: Old Dreams

Ryan Hedgecock (of Lone Justice fame), harmonizing with Amy Allison's distinctive, nasal croon, has undertaken the challenge of making the familiar new again with Old Dreams, the first full-length release from Palmer James. Utilizing the talents of producer/collaborator Malcolm Burn, the duo has created a deceptively dark-toned, characteristically folksy follow-up to their debut EP Dreadful Sorry while also exploring some of the sonic possibilities of nontraditional instrumentation. Check out the album-opening burst of electronica on Tom Petty's "Turning Point" before Hedgecock and Allison's harmonic counterpoint sets in to provide equilibrium. It can be rather unsettling even, as when they try the old standard "Clementine" over a plunking, Casio keyboard-like rhythm track. Snaking into the next track, "The Pain I'm In," however, with Hedgecock's delicate Neil Young-like vocal line wrapping around a brooding, percussive groove, it's apparent they've made a convincing case for their success. --Matthew Cooke