'EarElephant' by Panalure
Nowadays everyone with a cell phone is a photographer. But not all that long ago photographs were taken with a camera, film was developed in a darkroom and printed on paper. The process required time and patience. Milwaukee band Panalure takes its name from the Kodak photographic paper used for special situations.
Not by accident, the analog here is the process utilized by a band that cut its teeth investing well over a decade of weekly gatherings to work on original material. This month the band released its fourth album EarElephant, a literate blend of Americana that reveals more with repeated listens.
A few weeks ago on a Friday night, Panalure took the stage at Anodyne for an opening set. This is a band that eases into the music; the tone of the set was anything but rushed. Fred Ziegler (vocals, guitar) and Michael De Boer (guitar) may have been the focal points but paying a bit of attention revealed a local wrecking crew of veteran musicians, Bob Jennings on keyboards, Bob Schneider on drums and Susan Nicholson on violin. Ken Hanson anchored the sound on bass and Kari Hoff added vocals.
Ear Elephant as opposed to Earworm?
Ear Elephant is built around Ziegler’s thoughtful lyrics. “A good feeling is better than the truth, the truth is you don’t know a bloody thing … between what you preach and what you can really prove, is the distance you can park a double wide,” he laments, buoyed by Nicholson’s jaunty mandolin on “The Pictures.” Told through the non-judgmental metaphor of nature, “Wolf” examines the “film that plays” in our minds.
With a hint of ominousness, “Seven Eleven” manages to be the album’s centerpiece—fully incorporating the band’s unassuming strength. “Blues Away” works as a coda with Jennings’ piano underlying a framework for lyrics, perhaps an inner monologue or a letter wishing for bluer skies and brighter days.
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Panalure Album Release W/Liv Mueller @ Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co., Saturday, 7 p.m.
