Peel: Peel

Listening to Peel, a young five-piece hailing from Austin, Texas, is like taking part in a high-speed pursuit through garageland at the height of summer with the Velvet Underground and Apples In Stereo on your tail. There are moments on this self-titled debut when they have to slow down to take the odd corner such as “Sliding Doors” with its languorous country twang, or on the shimmering piece of bubble-pop “1949”, but otherwise it’s pedal-to-the-metal all the way. Frenetic drum rolls, bursts of trumpet, flourishes of pulsating psych keys and indie-guitar fuzz tumble over each other to create a joyous cacophony of sound that packs one hell of a catchy punch. Highlights (of which there are many) include the rousing paean to “Life In The City”, the crashing power-pop of “Moxy Blues” and closer “Navy Waves” replete with euphoric surges of dischordant pop-noise that threatens, but never quite manages to drown out frontman Josh Permenter’s singular vocal musings. This is exhilarating stuff which gravitates towards greatness the more you play it.