Peel

Peel

(Peek-A-Boo)

Record Review by Amber Henson

Peel’s self-titled debut album is a perfect snapshot of a band that plays well, knows how to have fun, and has the skills and talent to go far if they’re one of the lucky few.  This band exudes youth and confidence, and the desire to go for whatever feels right.  The members, a lovely mishmash of the sexes, Dakota Smith, Christie Cahoon, Josh Permenter, Derrick Chaney, and Allison Moore, are based in Austin, Texas (although Cahoon doesn’t seem to be listed or pictured anymore on the websites, so who knows what’s going on there).

The most consistent thing about this album, which is all over the place with its rock, punk, and synth tunes, is the balance of singer and instruments, which always comes out with instruments on top.  It creates the feeling that the lyrics are something of an afterthought, and that perhaps we’re hearing everything improvised live.  In many of the songs, such as “In the City,” the words sound almost yelled into the mic.  A few tracks, like “1949,” have intriguing, easy to hear lyrics: “Standing in line waiting to check out the book that you forgot to get last week left on shelf 49.”  Being a bibliophile, any album that talks about libraries has my personal seal of approval.

The last half of the album starts to get a little out there, swinging wildly from horn heavy songs, to really rocking songs, to electronica.  Track nine, “Someone’s Cousin,” has a very peculiar ending, where it sounds like everyone in the band has been lasered to death.  But Peel perseveres, and finishes with “Navy Waves”, the longest track on the album, melodic and with a persistent synth as its driving force.  Then, for some reason, there’s almost thirty seconds of silence at the end the song.

Peel is an unpolished band, but they’re one to keep an eye on, because they do have “the right stuff,” whatever that is exactly.