Palberta: Palberta5000 review – losing their edge?

Palberta are frustrating. At their best, the New York trio dig up the bones of punk-funk and post-punk, bolt them together and run a power line through for a giggle. Just as often, they sound like the scrag-end of dated hipster indie. Their new album edges Lily, Ani and Nina closer toward professionalism, with perkier production than they’re used to, although they don’t quite have the strength of songwriting to leave the scuzz completely behind.

This brings the familiar problems for any basement band seeking to stride up the stairs and widen their appeal. The scrappy underdog bite of, say, their quarter-arsed, one-minute cover of the Bee Gees’ unimprovable Stayin’ Alive is swapped for a swathe of toothless tunes neither cool nor commercial enough to satisfy hardcore fans or find an entirely new audience.

The band’s mayfly magic endures, though, particularly on The Way That You Do’s ragged clarity, the hypnotically repetitive Big Bad Want or live favourite Corner Store, heavenly harmonies dissolving into a menacing, stalkerish intensity. Then there’s All Over My Face, savagely funky and joyously wayward, bundling Television, Pavement and ESG into a slippery melange.