Sydney Eloise & The Palms, Translating Very Well

Atlanta’s Sydney Eloise is yet another pastiche of ‘90s alt country, SoCal sunshine folk pop, and 1960s girl-group-isms – although, to be honest, that’s one of our very favorite...

Atlanta’s Sydney Eloise is yet another pastiche of ‘90s alt country, SoCal sunshine folk pop, and 1960s girl-group-isms – although, to be honest, that’s one of our very favorite amalgams.  Her debut album, Faces, recorded with her band, Sydney Eloise & the Palms, was released late last month and has been drawing a plethora of positive comparisons to Jenny Lewis, Best Coast, Neko Case, and Fleetwood Mac from the likes of NPR, The Village Voice, and CMJ.  My personal favorite track, “I Like You,” (It’s not a cover of the Moz song.) is reminiscent of a power pop, and slightly punk, take on the singer/songwriter genre, not at all dissimilar to the best of Butch Walker’s work, although, in a recent chat with Sydney, she tells me that the song actually began as a joke, but admits that she’s happy with the finished product that came after numerous revisions, and also admits to being a big fan of Mr. Walker.

Sydney Eloise & The Palms are currently on their first ever US tour and will be taking the stage of The Fire this coming Monday, October 5th.  In our recent chat I ask Sydney about the biggest influences behind Faces, and also what she makes of the reactions to it, and she tells me that she’s very pleased not only to be getting such positive reactions, but that critics are really “getting” the sounds that inspired the record: “’60s pop was a really big influences, Phil Spector and the Wall of Sound and all that.  I’ve been surprised how well people picked up on that and how well it’s been received; it seems to have translated very well.  But I also just love good songwriting and people like Carol King and Bob Dylan.”

When we discuss the band’s first tour, which began with a hometown album release show last night, Sydney says that while there are a few places she’s excited to get to see, she’s really just into the idea of being on the road and in a new environment every 24 hours or so: “I’m excited to go to Portland, Maine, because I’ve never been there and I’m excited to be up North, because we haven’t spent much time up there, but I’m really just excited to be somewhere new every night.  I love travel.”  She also tells me that the live show might not be quite what listeners would expect: “The live performance is a little bit different from the record.  It’s not going to be as polished. It’s going to have a little more edge to it, and we’re also adapting the set to the venue and the city that we’re in each night.”

And although their debut just dropped and their first tour just began, Sydney Eloise & The Palms are already looking toward both more recording and more touring in the very near future: “The plan after this tour is to do some regional stuff.  We’re already writing for the next record and hope to be in the studio around January and then more touring and then hopefully we’ll have a new record out by sometime next year.”

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During the day Izzy Cihak teaches transgression, subversion, and revolution at Temple University. At night he haunts Philthy's best venues to cover worthwhile acts for Philthy Mag. Morrissey is everything to him and, in their own heads, all of his friends see themselves as Zooey Deschanel.

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