Peace - Kindness is The New Rock and Roll (Album Review)
Tuesday, 15 May 2018
Written by Liam Turner
When Peace burst onto the indie-rock scene five years ago, amid a maelstrom of tie-dye t-shirts and reverb-smothered, well, everything, it was clear they wanted to sound big. The Worcester four-piece set the foundations with their debut LP, ‘In Love,’ and built further with its grander follow-up, ‘Happy People’. But, as ‘Kindness is The New Rock and Roll’ shows, bigger doesn’t always mean better.
This third LP is the band’s most outsized to date, sporting huge, thwacking drums, a panoply of extra (arguably extraneous) instrumentation, string sections and even choirs. It all sounds like it was made to bounce off the walls of arenas up and down the country. Yet, there’s nothing here that really justifies such sonic ambition, because song-wise there’s nothing that really sticks.
You Don’t Walk Away From Love, for instance, rollicks and rolls amid vibrant guitars, almost evoking a Def Leppard stomper, but it doesn’t go anywhere. It just fizzles into a vapid romp.
Maybe if the lyrics had a bit more substance the track would have some staying power. Instead, all we get are throwaway lines like “I walk over miles of mountains / I walked from the sea to the sea” and “You don’t walk away from love” repeated ad infinitum.
There are some interesting signs of evolution here, though, like the solemn, swear-laden ballad From Under Liquid Glass, which documents frontman Harry Koisser’s personal struggle with depression. “I'm left alone with my big fuckin' mental head,” he sings before putting his lungs to the test on the song’s lofty chorus. It’s tracks like these which make the band’s carefree debut seem a world away. (The song itself was released in support of MQ Mental Health.)
Silverlined is another intriguing tune. Peace have always had a commercial lean but, with its toe-tapping rhythm and singalong chorus, this is one that would sound right at home on the radio. It’s easily the band’s most mainstream track to date, and shows they could probably pull off the pop-rock thing if they really wanted to.
But despite grand ambitions and a sound to match, it seems Koisser and co. are destined to stay confined to their indie-rock niche. Perhaps they should stop seeking to expand outward and try finding their inner peace instead.
Peace Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue May 15 2018 - NORWICH Waterfront
Wed May 16 2018 - LONDON O2 Forum Kentish Town
Sat May 19 2018 - SOUTHAMPTON Engine Rooms
Sun May 20 2018 - BRISTOL SWX Bristol
Tue May 22 2018 - READING Sub 89
Wed May 23 2018 - LEICESTER Dryden Street Social
Thu May 24 2018 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy Birmingham
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