Pallas finds literary inspiration

In a world slowly being taken over by Kindle and Netflix binging, we’re lucky to still have a few excellent resources for putting our hands on books in Atlanta. The Emory library, mainstays Charis Books and A Cappella Books, and newly opened Cover Books are treasures for the eyes and mind. Newly formed Pallas are a band influenced by books, both in their name and their personal lives. Pallas are literally (wink) a band you have to see live. So far, there are no recordings online or videos to be easily found. Live, their set unfurls like a good book. Danielle Brutto as lead singer is a captivating figure, prowling the stage and singing with a beautiful force. As their set moves forward, you realize there is more to the story than Danielle’s voice — the rest of the band comfortably fills in behind her. Valentina Tapia sets the mood with melodically powerful bass lines, and the drums of Decker d’Alesio, and guitar of Zane Durfee feel like two good pals goofin,’ as their parts move in surprising ways while never taking away from the song.

The name “Pallas” is lifted from Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven. Below, read Durfee's description on how they chose their name and find out what books are fueling their passions now.

On Fri., April 15, go see them live and hear how it all turns out. If you make a love connection at the show, remember, in the words of poet John Waters: “If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't fuck 'em!”

According to Durfee: "Pallas became the moniker under which we now reside only after a long and grueling trial of innumerable half-hearted working titles. It is a Greek epithet whose exact origins have been pretty much lost. It's most commonly associated with Athena e.g. Pallas Athena. It came to my attention while reading Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven. In an essay Poe published shortly after The Raven, titled The Philosophy Of Composition, he claimed that every component of the poem was based on logic. He explains that he even chose for the raven to perch upon the bust of Pallas simply 'for the sonorousness of the word, Pallas, itself.' I suppose we did the same."

Raise High The Roof Beam, Carpenters And Seymour (an Introduction) by Mr. J.D. Salinger.
I've just finished Raise High The Roof Beam, Carpenters And Seymour (an Introduction) by Mr. J.D. Salinger. It's basically two short stories placed together to give you a more open window on the chronicle of the fictional Glass family. The narrator in both stories is Buddy Glass, which of all Salinger's characters, in my suspicion, probably comes closest to representing his own personal voice as a writer, especially in the latter story. In both, Buddy recounts bits about his family but primarily focuses on his brother Seymour, the unsung poet, runaway groom, and possible second coming/going of Christ. It's full of Salinger's unique wit which is always such a pleasure to me that I would go so far as to call it inspiring. I wish he was the guy who wrote those Surgeon General's warnings on cigarette packages.

Decker d’Alesio — One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez 
I enjoy narrative with intricate layers of characters that are constantly developing. Márquez paints an unnerving portrait of a family that stretches and contracts over time. I found peace realizing that there are too many important characters for them to be important at all times. I find comfort in the seamless shifts between character exposition and actions, as I shift between routines and people I find important.

Valentina Tapia — Letters on Cézanne by Rainer Maria Rilke
I’m fascinated and obsessed by hard-earned simplicity of expression in music, art, and modes of living. In day-to-day dealings it’s rare to engage with anything you encounter in depth, to sink into it and let it fill your field of vision. Rilke’s letters to his wife Clara on Paul Cézanne, then, illuminate the relentless application of a poet and a painter toward arriving at “the indispensable thing,” the unaccessorized core of their subjects. You’re in conversation with them both as dimensional humans rather than the illustrious shells of their anointed names (“brands” re: 2016). Pallas is a cherished avenue for us to put blinders on to fleeting distractions and work toward that indispensable thing together via music.

Danielle Brutto — Songs and Stories of the Ghouls by Alice Notely
Lately I’ve been carrying around Alice Notely’s, Songs and Stories of the Ghouls and reading it in nibbles. It takes place in an urban underground occupied by the dead where Medea and Dido exist with the poet. Narratives of broken societies are given voice, the stories of triumphant conquerors questioned and retold. It’s written in a dreamlike, semi-stream of consciousness type flow, traveling through a space where Medea hasn’t killed her children and Dido reconstructs Carthage over and over forever. Oh, and I'm roughly ten hours deep into Dune as a book on tape.

Pallas plays 529 on Fri., April 15. Free (donations at the door). 9 p.m. With Warehouse, Free Pizza, Art Contest, Mr. Twin Sister DJ set after at 529. 529 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-228-6769. www.529atlanta.com.