Palomine

Chronique

Though Dutch indie rockers Bettie Serveert wouldn't make a big splash on the alt-rock scene until their second album, the band's debut, PALOMINE established the template for their sound. As with much of their other work, PALOMINE is a study in contrasts. It alternates between brashly rocking and quietly reflective, sometimes within the same song. One of the most immediately striking things about the album is just how American these Hollanders sound. Echoes of the Velvet Underground, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, and Sonic Youth abound, as fuzzed-out guitars switch between creating an urgent din or setting an ethereal mood. Singer Carol van Dyk follows those radical dynamic shifts step for step, cooing coyly on the gentler tracks and delivering a solid vocal punch when things heat up. PALOMINE sometimes falls between the cracks for casual admirers who think Bettie Serveert's career began with the aforementioned sophomore release, LAMPREY, but it's an important initial salvo of the band's distinctive brand of whispering thunder.
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