Had enough of your goddamn tricks
Your half-assed stories and your broken thoughts
…
I don’t care about monogamy
Just as long as everyday you spend an hour with me
…
Baby you’re my kind of bitch
“My upcoming EP Good Boy [out Nov 7] moves from swagger to violence, from heartbreak to hatred, and from love to defeat, “explains Nate Paladino in a media release, “and is anchored in what I hope is a healthy dose of humour.”
The native of Orange County, California has got the humour down well on this six song EP indie release, a wry, subtle and observational kind of funny. He courts political incorrectness on occasion, as in the first song – My Kind of Bitch. It comes with a cool vintage guitar sound circa 1950’s with its jangle and a doo wop kind of rhythm. It’s what Roy Orbison might be singing if he’d been born a few decades later.
Nate’s lyrics are slyly amusing with a darkly romantic heart at the centre, one that is resigned to its fate in Buy Your Heart.
I’m gonna buy your heart and make it love me…
It’s as plain as the stars in the sky
You smile but you wish your lips were pressed against another guy’s
Don’t Say Maybe is a straight-up Elvis throwback – but does it work in 2014? Nate gives it a deadpan gravity that carries it past the point where it would veer into cliché. Musically, the formula still works. Most importantly, the music is real and the band is tight, including a tinny piano (sounding keyboard), and vocals that can turn growly or soulful in turns. The band is obviously having fun with the old school sound and doing it well.
“I sing sad songs that sometimes sound happy,” Nate explains.
Come Back Home has an old style country twang with a nice repetitive, trippy drum part. He takes the classic idioms and adds a post-modern take – messed up, romantic and authentic all at the same time. In Something to Prove he comes out of Elvis mode and something more into the kind of territory pioneerd by bands like The Animals with a churchy B3 organ sound, his raspy voice and rhythmic guitar. It’s contrasted by Friend in Need, the only down tempo track on the EP, a singer/songwriter folkie tune with a touching sense of sincerity.
This is definitely a listenable release with a sonically interesting mix of styles done well and with feeling.
Tracklisting:
1- My Kind of Bitch
2- Buy Your Heart
3- Don’t Say Maybe
4- Come Back Home
5- Something to Prove
6- Friend in Need
bandcamp: http://natepaladino.com/album/good-boy (with free downloads)
music video for Buy Your Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB0WnbsG5ms
website: natepaladino.com
facebook: facebook.com/natepaladino
twitter: twitter.com/natepaladino
youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIuBY