- Genre: 'Indie'
- Release Date: '24th August 2018'
Our Rating:
This Netherlands foursome invite comparisons to Big Star and Arthur Lee’s Love in their press release as they draw attention t their amalgamation of 60s pop and 90s attitude. They promise an album brimming with ‘instant playlist classics’, but a slightly more balanced perspective would likely conclude that there are some nice songs here.
The 60s pop sound really comes to the fore on the trebly, chipper-sounding and big-on-echo ‘Game Over’ which really hits that breezy 60s vibe as does the airy – and vaguely cheesy – ‘Love Song #7’.
The title track, which opens the album – melds standard fare acoustic indie rock with a folksy twist. Is it a flaw to say that it sounds like ‘protest’ music before you even come to the lyrics? I’m reminded of the line from ‘Shakespeare’s Sister’ by the Smiths: ‘I thought that if you had an acoustic guitar / Then it meant that you were a protest singer’. I haven’t been able to listen to The Smiths in a very long time, band yet their songs endure as echoes in my head will the songs on ‘Plea for Peace’ do the same? Probably not although it doesn’t make it a bad album. It’s certainly got range.
‘The Comedy of Distance’ brings a bluesy swing to proceedings, coming on at first a bit like The Doors before bringing in a bit of an indie stomp more reminiscent of Ocean Colour Scene. Neither a compliment not a criticism per se, simply providing a sense of stylistic context.
But then, the style slaloms all over, embracing psych-tinged indie and 70s rock. And much as I expected to dismiss ‘Plea for Peace’ as lame, generic but confused collection of songs, the truth is its diverse but savvy, the lyrics addressing wide-ranging topics and delivering them with some wit and an articulate flair.
It all makes for a decent album, which I’d take over anything by The Smiths or Morrissey as a listening choice right now.
ths or Morrissey as a listening choice right now.
