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"Black Friday" is the third full-length release for the Boston-based indie rock trio led by Ellen Kempner,Palehound, released June 7th 2019 on the Polyvinyl label, the album was co-produced with Gabe Wax.
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 82, based on 4 reviews, indicating "Universal acclaim ".
User Album Review
This is how many of Palehound’s songs work: they begin with a highly specific image and then subject it to the probing beam of Kempner’s attention, until a broadly relatable sentiment brightens the image’s dark corners. Her lyrics are both precise and suggestive, not too literal to foreclose complexity but not so esoteric as to become untethered from the recognizable world.
Thanks in part to co-producer Gabe Wax (Soccer Mommy, Speedy Ortiz, Adrienne Lenker), it’s tempting to compare Palehound’s current sound to that of other whip-smart women and queer folks who are remaking rock for the 21st century. A band doesn’t need to be truly distinct, however, to contribute mightily to a movement, and Kempner brings a candid mix of insecurity and strength to topics like complicated friendships (“Black Friday,” “Bullshit”), self-acceptance (“Worthy”), and taking up physical space (“The City”). Ultimately, Black Friday is a constantly modulating love song to the very human experience of clinging to other people, but through her sharp writing, Kempner offers insight on how to rely on ourselves when everyone else leaves: “Nothing worth loving ever sticks around / But you.”
Reviewed by Annie Galvin for pastemagazine.com.
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