Somewhere buried beneath the modern-day musical behemoth genres of rock, pop and country there lies an oft-forgotten sect called bluegrass. It is generally associated with toothless hicks in Branson, Mo. scraping on washboards and blowing on empty jugs of moonshine. It's also frowned upon by music elites sitting in their upper-middle-class high-rise apartments. However, Minnesota-based Trampled by Turtles do their best to avoid such stereotypes by taking their core bluegrass sound and adapting it to the current indie-folk wave, reaching their critical apex with their 2008 album Duluth. Two years later they have sent forth the album Palomino as the successor to their most widely acclaimed record, and, if anything, it should draw more people into the bluegrass fold.
Right from the beginning, Trampled by Turtles show they have absolutely no desire to smooth their bluegrass edges. Palomino's first track and debut single ""Wait So Long,"" with lead singer Dave Simonett's wailing vocals, would be right at home in a saloon in Kentucky, but at the same time its energy level and pacing feel almost like a song from a new-wave band. Trampled by Turtles could easily have opened for the Cars or Cheap Trick, complementing each band perfectly despite the fact that neither of those bands was exactly a friend of the banjo.
Trampled by Turtles stick to their wild side early in the album. The active, almost frantic pace to the beginning of Palomino is in stark contrast to the more easy-going nature of Duluth, most of which seems almost casual in comparison to forces of nature like ""Wait So Long"" and ""It's a War."" ""It's a War,"" in particular, feels like it was run through an atom smasher with fiddler Ryan Young reaching atomic levels of hyperactivity.
However, Palomino calms down a bit afterward and loses some of its steam. It's hard to pay attention to ""Separate"" after the impressive fireworks display beforehand, making the track easily skippable. But Trampled by Turtles seem aware of this, as seen in the standout track ""New Son/Burnt Iron,"" which halfway through tosses aside its peaceful, 19th-century pastoral tone and returns to the energy-driven manic tempo of the album's opener. So while Palomino does sag somewhat after its impressive opening stretch, it recovers nicely to avoid being entirely front-loaded.
With Palomino, Trampled by Turtles establish themselves as a band that has been around the block a few times. They know the ups and downs and have settled into life, having gotten past the growing pains of their youth. ""New Orleans"" probably puts it best, groaning, ""It's a bitch ain't it / To live when you're young.""
Now the band sees another generation coming up behind them, going through those same growing pains, perhaps dealing with the very troubles Turtles had with finding acceptance while playing in a disparaged musical genre. Palomino is their sort of guidebook through the travails and troubles all people must go through before acclimating to their permanent places in the world. And if the tempo and wild nature are any indication, Turtles' advice for the young people of the world is to stare those troubles down and barrel straight into them at full speed.
