Back in April I reviewed Peak’s single ‘Blind Eye’ and was really impressed, so the news that the band was releasing an EP was great news. The EP includes ‘Blind Eye’, so if you want you can go and read the review I did of that release. But this is what I said:
‘Peak – at least as far as this single goes – make music that is, as I’ve already said, swaggering rock with an edge of psychy fuzz. It has something of a ‘Manchester’ sound, that’s the swagger, and it has something of a garage edge to it. It does have, just so that you know, a smattering of wooshing swirling sounds, not too much, just enough to give it that psychy edge. The advantage of not crossing that line is that this song has a tune, and as a result it’s incredibly earwormy. It’s also something that you could rather easily throw yourself around a dancefloor to. There’s enough going on in the track to mean that repeated listening is rewarded with a new and good thing, a new layer of sound. I like that.’
‘Feel Alive’ is a slab of raw guitar driven raw rock that – as my helpful friend said – sounds a bit like a more raucous Oasis. Is this a bad thing, no way, it rocks. The guitar on this is a great thing people, there’s a rather searing guitar break. And it has a tune that drives itself into your brain. And words that are catchy as hell.
However it is with the other track on this EP that Peak surprise. ‘Eyesore’ is a rather more gentle thing – it’s almost a ballad, a big rock ballad. It’s become my favourite of the three songs. It starts with strummed acoustic but builds. It has some rather nice ragged backing vocals. And it has a tune that stays with you.
Taken as an EP the three songs are incredibly impressive. There’s variation that shows Peak are no one trick pony, but all of the tracks have something that makes them hang together. Peak obviously are great at writing songs that have, at the core of them, fantastic tunes. This is a fantastic EP that you should take a listen to.
