On their astounding debut album, Peace, the brummie indie rockers have put together a record that will make you feel as if you have overdosed on flower power riffs and hippie mentality. Harry Koisser (fur wearing frontman), his brother Sam Koisser (the rumbling bassist), Doug Castle (stylish guitarist) and Dom Boyce (aka the one with all the height) have made the progression from one third of B-Town's 'Holy Trinity', to West Madlands participants and finally settling as pioneers of the PDL. For regular folk, like you and me, PDL stands for Psychedelic Defence League; a group of revivalist bands keeping afloat the psychedelic scene. Prepare yourself to be transported into a euphoric daze of friendship, love and glory as this is the type of coma that In Love will induce.
The record begins on a high note with Higher Than The Sun, a trippy tie dye number with an upbeat eternal promise that Peace are the real deal. The spinning guitar riffs will send you into a frenzy, one which continues over to Follow Baby - the quartet's grungy and thrashing latest offering. This is no frills rock'n'roll at it's best. Lovesick is a stomper of hormones and memories too good to forget, exploring the sweeter side of teenage lust and love. Whilst Float Forever slows the pace with an old school styled track that evokes Koisser & Co's more sentimental side. With lyrics such as "If you're not happy wearing denim, you're a devil in disguise" it's difficult not to fall for their childish charm.
Imploding into Drain, the upbeat pace is resumed and guitars fizz in a technicolour wash (here) and a blurred distortion (there) leaving for an end result perfectly pieced together, and just when you think it's over it keeps going. Drain is by far the longest track on the album, at six minutes and sixteen seconds, which is just as well as it is the type of song you never want to end. Wraith is a total smoothy, combining killer guitar riffs with vocals that crawl under your skin - this is Peace at their most seductive. Delicious is so awesome it deserves a genre of it's own; known as electronic tropicana. Ultimately, it's a thrilling number with electrifying guitar licks. Waste of Paint massively sounds like Blur's There's No Other Way, but no harm is done to Peace's reputation - if anything it adds to it.
Drenched in acidic guitar, Step A Lil Closer presents Harry Koisser's distanced vocals in a haze of intoxication and retro vibes. Toxic is a slicker track laced with catchy lyrics and dreamy psych pop elements, whilst California Daze is a strummed lullaby that will make you a little teary with all the "ooh"s and "aah"s. Sugarstone is a soul rock number with an eerie appeal and soft crooning from Harry Koisser, whilst Scumbag opens with a hammering drum solo before sidestepping into trippier territory and teenage chants. There's nothing monumental about this track, but there is a great explosion of multiple genres crashing and combining into one at the end. As the album draws to a close, we ease into Bloodshake (once called Bblood), perhaps the most radio friendly song the group have created, similar to the sound of Two Door Cinema Club, although you may have been expecting something a little more horrific (based on the track name).
Peace have fully delivered on the hype they were awarded just mere months ago, after releasing their groundbreaking EP Delicious. It's difficult to pick faults with In Love because there are so few, and who cares if they have 'borrowed' core elements from other bands? We'll let them off because they are Peace and are generating more excitement in the music industry than has been done for years.
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