Bursting with feel-good energy, hooks and crazy-catchy melodies... a collection of perfect, heart-thumping pop songs.
— NPR
Rambunctious and fun.
— Idolator
A warped power-pop sound combining lots of guitar fuzz and other noise with bright, catchy melodies.
— KEXP
Beautiful mess of a debut.
— Magnet
MP3s
In The City
Peel began as a three-piece in late 2004 when guitarist Josh Permenter and keyboardist Allison Moore teamed up with drummer Derrick Chaney. The trio wrote a handful of quirky pop songs which were promptly re-purposed as a palate for noise experimentation, and acquired an early audiences of pissed of neighbors and the occasional cop. By 2005, Peel had gained guitarist Dakota Smith and bassist Christie Cahoon and the new quintet made relentless rock and perfect-pop deconstruction their modus operandi.
Earning notoriety for both their raw, raucous live shows and bad behavior, Peel quickly became fixtures in the Austin dive scene, and were picked up by Peek-A-Boo Records in late 2005. During 2006 Peel attended SXSW as Peek-A-Boo's freshest addition and worked on an album for the remainder of the year. The 2007 release of their debut "Peel" tore through the blogosphere, amidst widespread acclaim and comparisons to everyone from Brian Eno to Pavement to Architecture in Helsinki. The band followed their release with an South and East Coast touring, rounding out the year playing shows with Sonic Youth, The Fiery Furnaces, Page France, and friends the Octopus Project.
The sum of these parts is a group in pursuit of the perfect three-minute pop song yet handicapped by their own youthful enthusiasm, hot-tempered bickering and ADD. Peel can't write a beautiful song without also giving in to the irresistible compulsion to destroy it with unhinged noise. It's that tension that makes their record so compelling and their live shows so engaging. It grabs you upon first listen and never lets go, long after the surges and swells of "Navy Waves" have subsided and the final echoes drift listlessly toward the horizon.
Emailthebandpeel@gmail.com
Booking Jim Lyons | Auto Pilot Booking
autopilotbooking@gmail.com
Label Travis Higdon | Peek-A-Boo Records
travis@peekaboorecords.com
This Austin band debuts with a charming outing of quirky, sprawling psych-pop. While slacker gods Pavement are an obvious touchstone, these guys are a more musically chipper bunch with a warped power-pop sound combining lots of guitar fuzz and other noise with bright, catchy melodies.
— Don Yates, KEXP 90.3FM in Seattle
We're pretty into the self-titled debut from the brainy Austin outfit Peel; then again, we're suckers for any song that sounds like a 21st-century take on the Meat Puppets' "Backwater."
— IDOLATOR
You can't go wrong with a bunch of jolly honkies from Austin who play tight pop songs smeared with fuzzed-out keyboards and caustic guitars. It's like Stephen Malkmus and Belle & Sebastian adopted a litter of wiry, freckle-faced redheads and, instead of receiving severe beatings for the rest of their lives, the kids were taught how to play slacker twee tunes that don't make you feel gay for listening to them.
— Lamar Livingston, VICE MAGAZINE
Borrowing the trademark looseness of Pavement with the vocal deliveries in the vein of Apples in Stereo, Austin's Peel seems to have something both new and energetic with enough nostalgic reference points to be charmingly familiar.
— GORILLA VS. BEAR
Peel's music is enthusiastic, urban, and expansive; it's greased guitar feedback squawk, twisted and shredded into spectral sunshiny pop.
— AUSTINIST
Peel is a new must for any dance party playlist. This album begs to be played a second and third time, proving that Peel is right on track with a highly addictive, energetic and fun first album.
— THE EAGLE
This debut effort bursts with youthful exuberance and fun. Crafted for energy and excitement, songs are short blasts of smart sensible pop slathered with fun sounds making the release a quick but compelling listen.
— THE LOUISVILLE ECCENTRIC OBSERVER
The ideal soundtrack for a night spent cavorting about town with friends, or spent alone dancing lazily in your room. From the album's very first track, "Oxford," one thing will become abundantly clear: this band is out to have fun—exclamation point and all.
— JIVE MAGAZINE