There’s nothing simple about Rocket Paloma. Take the band’s winding backstory: singer Joey Kerner played under the name as a solo act soon after taking a composition class at Cardinal Stritch, then remade the group into a full-fledged rock concern with the additions of guitarist Jack Beyler, bassist Jonathan Blohm, and drummer Bob Schaab. Take the band’s music: a little bit funky, a little bit progressive, full of twists, turns, and theatrical yelps from Kerner. A self-titled, four-song EP surfaced in 2017; now, one year later, Rocket Paloma is preparing for the release of its (as-yet-untitled) full-length debut by releasing a new single, “Ghosted.”
“And all of my wisdom is runnin’ dry / My tunnel vision’s goin’ blind,” Kerner sings early on in the typically airtight but unpredictable track. “Through all this friction, can’t decide / Am I the victim or the crime?” It’s a fitting lyric for Rocket Paloma, using the cyclical nature of love and love lost to question where one emotion begins and the other ends. “All this time I’m going in circles, I’m looking for a lie to believe,” Kerner sings later, summing it all up.
Recorded and mixed at Howl Street Recordings by Shane Hochstetler, and mastered by Carl Saff, “Ghosted’ will eventually find its way to that full-length album this September. Until then, catch Rocket Paloma not once, but twice at Summerfest: July 4 at 3 p.m. on the Johnson Controls World Sound Stage, and July 8 at 5 p.m. on the Rebel Music Stage.