speed of dark

Only two years ago St. Paul, MN singer-songwriter Corey Palmer turned his one-man bedroom project into a full-fledged five-piece band called These Modern Socks with the addition of members Arron Bergstrom (bass, backup vocals), Park Evans (guitar), Adrian Suarez (drums), and Nick Tveitbakk (keys, samples, back-up vocals).

Just released this past week, Picking a Lock at the Speed of Light, the Socks' second full-length CD, is a space odyssey through a relationship beginning with a heady lift-off into breathless heights and progressing to disillusionment and abandonment on the moon.

The disc is marked by catchy melodies, chrome-shiny arrangements accented with hard-metal vocoder, and Steely-Dan-like harmonies, all warmed by the emotional stakes detailed in the exceptionally high-quality lyrics.

Dilemma --the first glow of infatuation and a wonderful simulation of Brian May guitar.

"One good look at you and I understand
Why I gotta take you very soon
A gray vacation to the promised land
You can live in an aquarium
Will you come with me?"

"Worry-Free Lifestyle" --cracks develop in the relationship where doubt and jealousy leak in.

"now our only problem is the chemistry we lack
I'm trying not to let it wreck my time"

"Picking a Lock at the Speed of Light" --trying to figure out what went wrong.

"lift the door turn the wrench
open up hold it up like a mystery
tear it up lock it up then lose the key"

"Escape Pod" --still hopeful, but looking for a way out.

"redirect the sunlight and hope that you can live within your means
there's always an escape pod
or we could build a robot to rescue us like a love song"

"Wooden" has a funky, Of-Montreal quality, the dancing through your pain thing.

"now you've got a permanent loss at a premium cost"

Where I Came From
The star-stuff hits the fan in my favorite song on this album. I love its contrasts of pretty tune and smooth vocals pinned up against the stinging bitterness of the lyrics...

"I've got a lot more to live for--You never thought I did
You feel so bad that you didn't want it, like I give a shit"

...and a jarring synth riff that resembles a honking saxophone, the musical representation of the point where a relationship has crashed to smithereens, and you feel like a fool for not having seen disaster coming.

I put myself in this situation got to overcome
The way I lost everything I wanted in a single month
Still hear the hint of the sound of your voice in my helmet
I can't relax if you're there and I'm not, for a minute

No sophomore slump here; this is a really good CD that shows growth and maturity over the first effort, which also won fans. I recommend it!

MySpace | Website | Label: Dead Electric/TuneCore
Buy at Amazon.com, iTunes, eMusic

Photo by Emma Freeman Photography