In a world where it seems much easier to be negative, Peace are a shining light of positivity that we all need.
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Birmingham based indie rock outfit Peace have returned with their third studio album Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll. Championing love over hate with a barrage of classic post-punk indie melodies, Peace remain politically outspoken and unashamedly positive in what is their most well worked and impeccably produced offering to date.
Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll as a title is a bit of a mouthful and may sound rather cringe inducing, but never to shy away from spreading good vibes Peace have made a bold choice in explicitly getting straight to their ever-wholesome message before we even listen to a song, and surely that is something worthy of praise. In terms of music however, there is little to debate. Peace are a band that seem to venture from strength to strength with every step they take; this latest album is jam-packed with monumental summer anthems, more evidence for the possible claim that they are one of the most underappreciated and overlooked indie bands of modern times.
Despite only being ten tracks long, the album is incredibly ambitious, and delivers on all levels. This refined approach is significantly different from previous album Happy People, a release that perhaps suffered from its excessive eighteen songs, with Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll definitely prioritising quality over quantity. Firing in all cylinders, lead singer and guitarist Harry Koisser tackles corruption, abuse of power, and incessant hierarchical greed head on throughout in his own distinctively emotive and heartfelt vocals. This is imminently clear from the first track ‘Power’, a gospel supported song of defiance and a call to arms for a “war on war”. Harry’s brother, Sam, is also at his peak on bass, the catalyst for the album’s lead single. Crisper and more refined in his vocal performance than on any other Peace album, Harry utilises his talent most effectively on the beautiful melancholy of ‘From Under Liquid Glass’ that offers one of the most heart-breaking choruses the band has yet to produce, an open ended address of his own demons, epitomising the bravery and honestly that is the driving force of the whole album. ‘Silverlined’ and ‘Angel’ are arguably some of the album’s highest points, the former a return to Peace’s notorious festival-type crowd-drawing colossal guitar-driven record, the latter being much closer to an indie ballad that is utilised to equal effect.
The four piece were perhaps under the biggest pressure they’ve yet to face in the lead up to this release, but they have undoubtedly lived up to the expectation. A significant improvement since Happy People is palpable in each and every song, and I would go as far as to say that they have also surpassed the quality of their 2013 debut In Love.
Kindness Is The New Rock And Roll is available now via Ignition Records.
