Dry Food

Dry Food is the debut album by US band Palehound. It was released on 14 August 2015 on record label Exploding in Sound.

Background and release
Ellen Kempner released their debut EP as Palehound in October 2013 on Exploding In Sound. After its release Kempner dropped out of Sarah Lawrence College, went through a break-up, and moved from New York to Boston, during which time they wrote the songs for Dry Food.

Dry Food was recorded in October 2014. Kempner wrote all the musical arrangements, and played all instrumental parts except the drums. Lead single "Molly" was released in June 2015, and Stereogum noted a similarity to the sound of Kempner's roommate Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz. In 2016 Heavenly Recordings re-released the single as a 7", with a cover of Kelly Clarkson's Miss Independent as the B-side.

The album was released in the US on 14 August 2015 via Exploding In Sound, and in the UK on 4 March 2016 via Heavenly. In February and March 2016 Palehound toured the UK and Europe to support the album.

Critical reception
On review aggregator Metacritic the album holds a score of 78/100, based on 11 reviews, indicating a "generally favorable" reception.

Mike Katzif of NPR praised Kempner's skill as a guitarist, and wrote that "Dry Food is the sound of Ellen Kempner coming into her own musically." Will Hermes of Rolling Stone wrote that Kempner "plays the hell out of a guitar", and James Reed of the Boston Globe also praised their "guitar prowess."

Track listing
All songs written by Ellen Kempner.

Personnel
Technical Artistic
 * Ellen Kempner – guitar, bass, vocals, writing, arrangements
 * Jesse Weiss – drums (tracks 1, 7, 8)
 * Max Almario – drums (tracks 4, 5)
 * Max Kupperberg – drums (tracks 2, 3, 4)
 * Sam Owens – keyboards (tracks 2, 5)
 * Gabe Wax – production
 * Heba Kadry – mastering
 * Ellen Kempner – artwork
 * Caitlin Bechdel – layout