An Otherwise Negative Situation. Geoff Palmer

With 'Charts And Graphs' Geoff Palmer in my book hit an awesome high. The album is filled to the brim with fantastic powerpop hits that made me dance and sing through the my living room. With An Otherwise Negative Situation Palmer comes very close to this level of musicianship.

What gets me most when listening to Geoff Palmer's music is how upbeat it is. He presents the kind of music that makes me feel good and puts a smile on my face. Undeniably American rock music, he plays like The Beach Boys on speed, enter The Ramones. What do you get from that mix? 'Surfin' Nebraska of course.

The comparison is too easy because Palmer's trump card is the pop dose he infuses his songs with. They all have (t)his touch of pop that makes you want to sing along and makes the songs turn around and around in your head. I'm sure I've written it before, but just like his former band mate Brad Marino, it's like writing a good song does not take any effort. Most likely it is the opposite, that it takes a lot of effort to make it come out so nice. Whether pure talent or hard work, it shows on An Otherwise Negative Situation. Let me give you two examples.

Take 'Dark Thoughts'. The song starts like a Powerpop song. All pretty straightforward, after the melodic intro. Slowly but surely the song expands with a guitar overdub, and another and another one. More and more melody is let. There's even a place for a poppy bridge, culminating in a great and effective guitar solo. This is what Geoff Palmer is capable of.

'FOMO' starts with a drum rhythm and a few little musical exercises. Then a The Ramones style song kicks in. The tight punky rhythm tells you all. And then Palmer starts to throw his magic in the form of a chorus that no The Ramones song ever held. Just like the guitar solo comes from another musical universe. It's this playing with different aspects of rock music that make his music so rich and a pleasure to listen to.

With An Otherwise Negative Situation Geoff Palmer, again, created a very positive one for his fans. Rests for me to give an apology. It turns out that I was on the guestlist of a Kurt Baker show in Tokio last month. with Palmer on guitar, most likely with thanks to Geoff Palmer by way of his record label. My account was blocked and I only found out after being able to open it again once at home. To my regret, I did not show up because of this. I would have loved to be there and shake hands. Next time here in NL?

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order An Otherwise Negative Situation here:

https://geoffpalmer.bandcamp.com/album/an-otherwise-negative-situation