Peach Pit – You and Your Friends

Indie Rock – Released April 3, 2020 – 15 songs, 53 mins

REID’s album drop:

My last two albums choices were by known artists so I’m breaking that trend this week. I stumbled upon this indie pop band from Vancouver earlier this year and have enjoyed what I’ve heard thus far. I debated between their first and second albums and ultimately decided to go with their 2020 release. Let’s hope we all enjoy – You and Your Friends by Peach Pit.

REID

Gotta love that new band feeling! A random google playlist gave me Peach Pit in 2021. Let’s get into their second official release, You and Your Friends.

Feelin’ Low (F*ckboy Blues) starts the album off strong and sets the tone for what Peach Pit has to offer. Black Licorice is a song I’ve been listening to for weeks. Super chill jam, great in any situation and one I’ll keep on the playlist for a while. Figure 8 slows things down a little and continues to show off the lead singer, Neil Smith’s, vocals. He has a very soothing voice that meshes so well with the music. Puppy Grin picks the pace back up and continues the strong album flow. Runner up for favourite track goes to Brian’s Movie. It’s so damn easy listening, makes me want to crack a patio beer. Camilla, I’m at Home, Second Life With Emily, Live At The Swamp and Shampoo Bottles continue this trend. The standard release of this album ends with Thursday, Your Teeth and You and Your Friends capping off a really strong, consistent performance. The extra three with the deluxe edition are Psychics in LA, Adidas and Denny’s Garage offering up more of the same. Psychics in LA adds a bit of a different element and is another track on the higher end for me.

I really enjoy this album. For me it’s an all-situations listen. I can run it in the background while working or throw it on in the car. For those reasons I imagine I’ll continue listening to this one for a while. Their first album is pretty strong too. Have a listen to the song Tommy’s Party; so chill. I’m excited to keep tabs on Peach Pit and think it’d be a cool experience to witness them live in a small venue.

Overall Rating – 8.4/10

Favourite Song – Black Licorice

ROZ

Coming in at 53 minutes throughout 15 songs, this is a longer one (I hope Lundi ‘s eye isn’t twitching, hehe). I started doing my usual detailed/production style review, however I found myself constantly repeating the same sentiments. This band definitely has a signature style that is commonplace throughout every single track, so for me to go into detail would no doubt become repetitive.

In saying this, here are some notes that I took throughout the week that highlight my main takeaways:

-          Feelin’ Low incorporates a very distorted vocal effect, like singing through a fan! Pretty creative.

-          Second Life with Emily, dope.

-          Live in the Swamp in contention for my favorite. Just really getting some good vibes on this one, love how all the elements come together, the guitar especially.

-          Shampoo Bottles also high up there. Kind of got a Foo kind of feeling from this one, the vocal style at least and the effects used on him.

-          Thursday also fantastic.

-          Psychics in LA with the killer guitar work. Very nice.

-          Okay after a few listens Adidas and Live in the Swamp are neck and neck. Real good.

Man, I really like the lead singer’s voice. Love how all the instrumentation comes together on basically every track. I feel like I would really enjoy seeing these guys live, and hope that this comes into fruition once this pandemic is over for good.

Now, did anything really stand out? No. Was it an enjoyable listen? Oh hell yeah brother. Now my question is, what if I really enjoy an album but feel as though it doesn’t hang with the big boys/girls and boundary pushers? Where do I score it? These are the kind of questions swirling around in my head as we get deeper into this weekly review exercise. Either way, this is a band that fits very nicely within my weekly indie playlist. Thanks for the hookup Reido!

Overall Rating – 8/10

Favourite Song – Live in the Swamp 

LUNDI

New band! New music! Had never heard their name even mentioned before but they’ve gained a fan in me. In a similar way to last weeks Hot Chip album, Peach Pit don’t reinvent any genre on You and Your Friends but damn if it’s not an enjoyable listen. 

Crazy how sadness so often leads to amazing art. With You and Your Friends Peach Pit has put together a very tidy breakup album. The guitars across the album are brain cooties that suck me in each time and some chorus’ really hook me for a singalong. Even though the lead singer stays pretty monotone throughout and the lyrics are relatively sad, the album puts me in a good mood. I think I’m a sicko though when it comes to loving sad music. 

I really love the front half of the album with my favourite tracks being Feelin Low, Black Liquorice and Puppy Grin. The rest of the album is enjoyable but they kind of blend together. That may be a con of listening at work, but if it ain’t broke don’t fit it. 

Solid album. Will dig into the discog and fire a few tracks on a summer playlist. 

Overall Rating – 8.2/10 

Favourite Song – Puppy Grin