I, like many people have been eagerly anticipating ‘In Love’ by Peace for at least a year, with some even placing the burden of representing British music on their young shoulders. They are part of a select and lucky group of British and American bands who have presented such tunes to us that we are already on our knees ready to lap up what ever the give us, as if it had fallen from the mouth of Bowie himself. This, I feel, can be dangerous both for the bands and the people hyping them up. I will hold up my hands and say that after Dog Is Dead released their EP, I was the first one down the shops buying it and crying about how good it was. Oh what a fool! But I shall begin by saying there are many dangerous things about the sounds Peace are making, but what there is no danger of is disappointment. 

‘Higher Than The Sun’ is an amazing tune to open with. Crashing guitars and fuzzy synth sounds herald in the first of many sing’a’long choruses to grace this album. It also gives us the first taste of those vintage psychedelic influences that drip off the very plastic of this CD. A middle eight that could have been ripped straight out off something from The White album makes this a very early contender for album highlight. 

‘Follow Baby’ may have become the radio friendly replacement for ‘Bloodshake’ off their previous EP ‘Delicious’ thanks to it’s safer lyrics and glorious chorus. But to leave it there would be to forget the shuffling drum scratches and epic guitar sounds. This brings us to my biggest gripe. Where the bloody hell is ‘Bloodshake’? Why leave such a sugar coated, day glow gem out in the cold? You didn’t see Palma Violets leaving out ‘Best Of Friends’ did you?

But what I love about this album is that every single song manages to sound fun, yet still shows off those more technical guitar flourishes and always wears it’s influences on it’s sleeve. ‘Toxic’ sounds like it was written whilst running through a thick swamp of cigarette smoke and alcohol fumes; creating a track full of yearning and emotion. Old favorite ’California Daze’ hasn’t lost any of it’s colorful charm as lead singer Harry croons “here’s one for the diamonds in the dark//California daze”  to the sounds of the band winding down. It’s no end of the album blooper, just a perfect come down from    the other worldly goings on in the previous half an hour. 

When I read about the psych revival gripping Birmingham and indeed the world, I couldn’t wait for a Tame Impala to be produced from these very shores. What we have here is nothing as serious and self depreciating as Tame Impala. What we do have is an album brimming to the full with delicious riffs, florescent melodies and intoxicating rhythms but done with a hint of good humor and a drop of laddish optimism. 

The sound of 2013 has arrived, and Palma Violets have been charged with bringing it into the public domain. Their album ‘180’, released last Monday and named after the rehearsal space in Lambeth where it was born, has the potential to absolutely destroy 2013. One thing the band has become famous for is their very DIY, home grown and organic DNA, and thankfully that happens to be one of the key themes that’s weaving through each note.

Receiving airplay across the country as well as much coverage from the music press; Palma Violets aren’t one of those bands that have been lurking around in the background for a couple of years. But where as with Alabama Shakes last year (who received much excitement from both sides of the Atlantic) delivered an album full of potential but obviously didn’t have time to develop their sound as they would have wished, Palma Violets seem like a band who have done everything their own way. The album hasn’t been rushed out and as you will learn from listening to the album, they are far from a one hit wonder. 

Recent single ‘Step Up For The Cool Cats’ is underpinned by almost gospel sounding organ chords that allow the rustic guitar sounds and reassuring rock’n’roll beat to seep through. Third track ‘All The Garden Birds’, possibly my favorite track of the album, begins with Metronomy style synth chords but builds into a delicious slice of pop rock perfection. Vocals full of emotion, deep, powerful guitars and a middle eight that could have come straight of a Noel G’s latest album. “All my friends were there//and all of the garden birds” sings Chilli between shouts and echo’s from the rest of the band. 

‘180’ feels like the album I’d wished The Vaccines had made. Don’t get me wrong, I loved ‘Come Of Age’, but Palma Violets have taken the aggressiveness of there fellow Londoners and channeled it into something more creative and refreshing. ‘Tom The Drum’ possess a riff of The Kinks caliber and hooks aplenty. And not wanting to let the intensity drop, ‘Jonny Bagga Donuts’ is another red hot slab of rock’n’roll, clocking in at just over 3 minutes but it feels like you’ve been dragged around Lambeth in 3 seconds! 

As with all albums there are tunes where the band don’t quite hit the spot. ‘Rattlesnake Highway’ stinks of a track where the band ran out of imagination so stuck a load of reverb over it and shouted the lyrics. There is one thing that makes this album stand out for me, and helped it succeed where it could so easily have failed. The band create songs that you feel you have a real connection with. Each song sounds like an in joke with the rest of the band and it leaves you dreaming you could have witnessed those legendary moments at 180 Lambeth Road. They have made bland lad rock, and at the same time they haven’t done a full on Everything Everything. What they have done is find a happy medium; balancing artistic flare with solid rocking tunes. A truly great album.

9/10 

One of the most hotly anticipated albums of 2013 has just dropped like a Russian meteor into our eagerly awaiting laps. It is of course ‘Holy Fire’ by Oxford five piece Foals; the follow up to the delicious ‘Total Life For Ever’. Intellectual, high brow indie pop is something of a whole when it comes to genres. Bands can aim to reproduce Radiohead style records, but end up teetering on the edge before falling into obscurity and their own sense of self importance. In the past Foals have straddled this line with precision, but could ‘Holy Fire’ see them topple?

‘Prelude’ introduces the album like a thick haze of fog clearing to reveal the treasures that lie with in. It matches hushed vocals with more traditionally indie guitars to create something that’s at the same time driving and delicate. This all clears to release the thankful reminder that despite ‘Inhaler’ being the single that’s been around the longest, it’s still refreshingly sharp. The whirl pool of reverb envelops Yannis Philippakis’s earthy vocals. You could possibly compare this to a heavier moment on The Maccabees 2012 album, but Foals certainly give the track an edge that is truly unbeatable. 

‘My Number’ is a more breezy, poppy moment where Yannis sings “I feel the streets are pulling me down//People of the city//I don’t need your council now!” before launching into a Two Door Cinema style sing’a’long chorus. Continuing with the Maccabees style fragile vocals, ‘Everytime’ builds into another ghostly banger complete with percussive beats and a rich texture. 

As with all albums, there are always weaker tracks nestling among the grandeur that surrounds them. ‘Out Of The Woods’ is that track as it fails to reach the required euphoria, but it’s certainly no ‘After Shave Ocean’ (yes we’re looking at you Vaccines). Things get a little conceptual with tracks like ‘Milk and Black Spiders’ where guitars are used to imitate the movement of eight legged insects, and ‘Providence’ ushered in by an African style chant. But saying that, these are still quality tunes that provide something a little but left field towards the end of the album. 

We finish with ‘Moon’ the final track and the glorious come down. Brittle guitars, saddened musings and the feeling of everything around you moving too fast make up this track. So that brings ‘Holy Fire’ to a close and all rumors that they might have gone all ‘deep’ on us close with it. Instead I have found magnificent post punk guitar riffs matched by Yannis’s heartfelt vocals and just the right amount of synths and electro wizardry. A perfectly composed piece and an early contender for album of the year.