Shallow Palace

Shallow Palace had to bring its best with them to follow an act like Leslie, and with most if not all the crowd hanging around, the quintet managed to show why it has been earning plum gigs like a slot at the St. Patrick’s Day in Five Points Festival over the past year or so.

A no-frills rock band that still manages to include keyboards and some well-placed vocal interplay between singer-guitarist Greg Slattery and keyboardist-guitarist-vocalist George Fish, who trade lead vocals from song to song. The band’s heavier songs such as “Jesus Christ” and “Charlie, No” come across live much better than some of the mellower, more tuneful numbers, but on this particular night I’ll chalk it up to the environment inside New Brookland Tavern, which is much more forgiving of the louder-faster-harder dynamics than the melodic subtlety that marks Shallow Palace’s more keyboard-driven material.

Greg Slattery is a great screamer, fortunately, and on a song like the pulsing “Bear Bear Bear Shark Attack” his voice alternates from a foreboding croon into a cutting, insistent yet somehow still musical scream. It’s the band’s most effective weapon, this juxtaposition of the nearly pretty and the nearly demonic, and when they put it to good use as they did on this particular night, the results prove it. Just ask the crowd that was there, since everyone managed to stay until the last notes were played. - Free Times - K. Oliver

What was it we said about Shallow Palace prior to the band’s set at this year’s Music Crawl? That pigeonholing the quintet into any singular subgenre in the rock ‘n’ roll canon is doing the band a disservice? That the band’s mercurial material finds it veering from bombastic glam-pop (think: Muse) to aggressive combat rock (think: MC5) and everywhere in between like so many free-format college radio shows? Yeah, we’ll stick with that. The band releases its sure-to-impress full-length The Vig tonight - Free Times - P. Wall

Shallow Palace, “Charlie, No!” (The Vig)
A visceral riff-rock jam that grabs you by the gonads and doesn’t let go until the last muted cymbal crash. - Free Times

Shallow Palace will surely have the crowd pumped early with their straight up Rock n Roll. Hopefully they can recreate their Burlesque show performance at Headliners with half nude girls on stage pouring fake blood all over everything and everybody. That night I was filled with PBR and I was happy. - SceneSC.com - David Stringer

Shallow Palace is getting ready to bring the rock to the Elbow Room tonight at 8 (only $3 to get in). If you have seen them, you know they bring one intense rock show every night they play. If you haven’t, then what are you waiting for? This show is not the only thing the boys have been rocking though, as Columbia’s own Jam Room has had to endure the thunderous sounds of Shallow Palace.

The boys have been cutting their first full length record with Jam Room engineer and producer Zac Thomas, whose involvement has led to what frontman Greg Slattery calls a “vintage feel” for the album. Rather than record each of their parts at different times, they have taken a more classic approach by performing all of their songs live in the studio. This live approach is definitely well suited for the energy of their music, producing a record that is fresh, raw, and most importantly, has a lot of balls. The guys seem really happy with the project so far, and that is a great sign for fans.

As for the status of the recording, they have nearly wrapped it up and are hoping to have the album, titled The Vig, out soon. If you like what these guys are doing, go support their live shows. It takes a lot of money to make a record, and from what I’ve heard it is something these guys are going to be very proud of. So go check out their upcoming shows and support their new release! - SceneSC.com - David Stringer

Shallow Palace - The Vig
This is the real rock album from this list. The Vig is dynamic and features in your face rockers like Jesus Christ and Charlie No, and loud to soft transitions that have made rock music what it is. This album mixes every genre of Rock and Roll you have heard in the last thirty yearsand spits it out in one ball of fury. - SceneSC.com - David Stringer

When Shallow Palace graces the Art Bar stage, the five-piece won’t require anything more from the crowd then a basic love for rock ‘n’ roll. This isn’t a suggestion that Shallow Palace makes shallow, uncomplex music. Quite the contrary: Its energetic brand of punk-emo-noise (and yes, they are deserving of all three of those genre monikers) dares the listener to delight in the melodic interplay of kaleidoscopic guitars and glitzy keyboards. It’s a dare well worth taking. - Free Times - J. Spidle

Shallow Palace brings howling energy to its songs through raw vocals and shredding guitars. And the group has a range of impressive influences to inspire its sound, from The Clash and The Stooges to Tom Petty and Nirvana. Within the nebulous spaces between these punk, grunge and alternative influences, Shallow Palace has carved out its own niche of good ol’ rock and roll. - Free Times - P. Ward

To get your dose of back-to-basics hard-rocking, park your keister at this stage around noon and catch the Soda City’s very own Shallow Palace. Between the dueling vocals of guitarists Greg Slattery and George Fish, this quintet’s got all your rock bases covered, from alt-rock screaming to ‘90s swaggering croons. Throw in the band’s ability to just plain rock the hell out, and you’ve got your first must-see band of the day. - Free Times - T. Baker