If someone is young and in a band grabbing attention there really should be more of a feeling of duty to capture the moment and have a statement to make. Would Billy Bragg have been quite as important an artist if he’d first signed a clothing deal with the equivalent of Gap or Topshop first? Would people have remembered the Clash in the same light had they not fought against fascism?
Peace (only competing with Jonny in the least Google-able band name contest) fall into the same trap as far too many bands of this era in that where they are technically competent they seem to struggle to find something to say or have a sound that really offers anything different from your cavalcade of Two-Door-Bombay-Cast-Of Beady-Cinema-Club bands doing the round.
You might hear vaguely catchy single ‘Wraith’ on the radio with it’s spidery guitar intro and melodic refrain and take interest. In fact it’s how this reviewer first became curious about what Peace were all about but when the formula of big choruses and in-your-face hooks grows old there really is nothing else to offer.
It’s quite tough to pin Peace down on who they sound most like for the pure fact that for all their swagger and bluster any one of their songs could be attributed to many different bands bothering Radio 1 just now such as the Vaccines or Two Door Cinema Club. ‘In Love’ is almost the sound of a desperate A&R throwing a lot of mud at the wall and hoping something sticks.
If any new aspiring bands are reading this, then I beg this of you; before you write a song, read something of note. There are tens of thousands of young people who can’t find a job and those who are are working long hours for low pay. The gap between rich and poor is increasing, facism has been rearing it’s head through the EDL and BNP. There’s plenty of inspiration out there to say something noteworthy that captures the mood of a generation. Lord knows the turgid Oasis-lite ‘Sugarstone’ ain’t it.
Untill Peace find something to shout about there’s sweet little to recommend about this technically competent but forgettable album.