There’s a lot of Brooklyn’s forever-burgeoning DIY scene at play behind Palehound’s “Pet Carrot.” For starters the track (part of an upcoming EP) was recorded at Gravesend Recordings, a studio run by the itinerant Bushwick venue Silent Barn. For seconds, “Pet Carrot” was produced by members of the deliciously spastic R&B act Ava Luna. And to finish things off: Palehound’s Ellen Kempner seems to have a fan and friend in Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis, whose debut LP I reviewed here earlier this summer.
My head is reeling from all the alt.
In all seriousness, “Pet Carrot” is quite the charmer of a track. Vocals swoop in and out of creamy, double-tracked falsetto over a swaggering bassline and Cliffs of Dover jagged electric guitars. Kempner’s lyrics are deliciously ‘90s, the vocal melody a grungy twist on the stylings of one Stephen Malkmus (who was probably the sound engineer or something).
You can moan about over-connected Brooklyn progeny all you want (I sure do), but Palehound’s debut EP Bent Nail (out October 22 on Exploding in Sound) should definitely be on your autumn wishlist.
