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Palma Violets on the Band's Formation and Hating Their Single "Best of Friends"

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British rock quartet Palma Violets are off to a hell of a start for a band that only first began rehearsing in 2011. They’ve already notched a nomination for the BBC’s prestigious “Sound of 2013” award and scored “Best New Band” and a “50 Best Tracks of 2012” award from the NME. Like Bloc Party and Arctic Monkeys before them, they're well on their way in conquering Britain with their sights now set on the U.S. Their debut album 180 was released this past March and the band has a handful of North American dates planned over the summer including a slot at Ontario’s Field Day Festival and a trip to Chicago for Lollapalooza in August.

Recently, the band played a handful of sold-out shows in New York City and they stuck around for a few days after to take in the city that never sleeps and catch up with Matt Pinfield for the latest episode of The Hivecast. Here, they share stories of meeting at British music festivals, music fandom, and why they hated their lead single, “Best of Friends,” when they first wrote it. “It's actually our only song with a real structure --  verse/chorus/verse/chorus -- and we actually initially hated it, because we thought it was so predictable. ‘Oh, god, we've written a stadium rock song!’” singer and guitar player Samuel Thomas Fryer explains. “The first time we played it, we were actually quite embarrassed to play it. And then people started saying, ‘Oh, that's probably your catchiest song. I think it might be your first single.’ We were completely gobsmacked by that.” For more behind-the-scenes takes on the songs from the band’s smash debut (and more charming British-isms like “gobsmacked”) check out the full Hivecast.

Palma Violets debut album 180 is out now on Rough Trade. Subscribe to The Hivecast at iTunes and stream it below: 

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