As Kamikaze Palm Tree, Dylan Hadley and Cole Berliner craft circular, psychedelic art rock that conceals sticky melodies under deadpan vocals and experimental production choices. The pair issued an EP followed by their 2019 debut full-length Good Boy before joining Drag City, where White Fence’s Tim Presley produced their 2022 album MINT CHIP.
Hadley and Berliner launched Kamikaze Palm Tree in 2015 while based in San Francisco, with Hadley handling drums, vocals, and occasional guitar and Berliner covering guitar plus additional instruments. Hadley had previously drummed for the garage-psych outfit White Fence and later collaborated with Cate Le Bon, Kiskadee, and others alongside his work in the duo. Their first EP, The Hand Faces Upwards, presented a drony, obscured collection of tracks, prompting the band to enlarge its roster for concerts. In 2018 they performed at Berkeley’s KALX studios alongside harpist Abby Lim-Kim and saxophonist Justin Tomlin; those recordings appeared online ahead of the 2019 album Good Boy.
Relocated to Los Angeles, the group signed with Drag City for the follow-up LP MINT CHIP. The studio configuration added bass, violin, and clarinet, and Tim Presley’s production input helped temper the band’s trippy concepts with a more substantial sonic presence.
