Peaking Lights- 936

Peaking Lights, of Madison Wisconsin, have evolved a very odd course over the last five or so years...the band is made up of lovely couple Aaron (formerly of defunct Bay Area drone maestros Rahdunes), and Indra (an ex-member of fried new-wave cyborg geniuses the Numbers).  A friend turned me on to the band several years ago with their first release (I think), the Clearvoiant cassette EP on Night People.  It was a fantastic little piece of music and one that I still throw on fairly often.

The sound of Clearvoiant is that of a band hidden by shadows; the songs are mellow folk and synth numbers and the music is very peaceful and relaxing, but it always seems like you're hearing the band play from the other side of a wall or from a room down the hall; somehow the music remains barely audible no matter how loudly you play it.  This effects the listening experience in that it forces one to either tune in closely or not at all.  If you were, say, reading a book the first time you listened to it, though the overall feeling of the sounds you were hearing would likely still come across as warm, you might not even realize there were actual songs.

After jamming Clearvoiant for months, I was quite excited when the band released their first full length LP, Imaginary Falcons, also on Night People.  This record is similar to Clearvoiant in that it finds the band continuing to employ the less is more strategy, creating music that is both warm and sparse.  However, Imaginary Falcons also sees the band taking massive steps in several different directions.  While Clearvoiant had relied mostly upon simple guitar and keyboard melodies buried in fuzz to make it's point, this record introduces several stylistic oddities seeming perhaps to have manifested due to long term obsessions with (I'm guessing) Prince Buster, France Gall, Syd Barrett, and astrology.

Of course that feeble list of references which this record brings to mind really comes nowhere near an accurate description of what it actually sounds like even if you think you have an idea of what all those things mixed together might sound like... How could you possibly account for the the dry and tinny sounding drum machine loops of 'Wedding Song' or the terrifying last few minutes of 'News News' which sounds like nature attempting to wipe you off the face of the Earth?   Or what about the completely fucked up Everly Brothers on heroin vibe of 'All the Good Songs Have Been Written'?  How could you explain that one? 

Imaginary Falcons is one weird record for sure, and a fucking great one at that.  But I digress.  Wasn't this supposed to be about the new Peaking Lights album, 936?  Well, I've been trying to build up to that.  I suppose since I've been into this band for awhile now and 936 is such another massive leap for them, I feel that putting the band's history into context helps me make better sense of the new record.

So what is 936 all about?  Well, it certainly isn't sparse; the minimal arrangements have been replaced by electronic tribal/tropical sounding beats (reminiscent of 'Wedding Song' from Imaginary Falcons, but much more textured), massive dub style bass lines, weaving organ and synth melodies, and trippy ska/reggae influenced guitar work.  The vocals are no longer bogged down under layers of effects and the lyrics are (for the most part) no longer vague and difficult to comprehend; Indra's voice soars as she emits genuinely heartfelt, if not inspiring lyrical gems such as "All the sun that shines, shines for you" or "you are burning like a campfire / wonderful / wonderful". 

The overall result sounds something like psychedelic disco for new age healers, and honestly I wasn't quite sure what I thought of it at first.  While I was glad that the band decided to made 936 as far removed from Imaginary Falcons as that record was from it's predecessor, the sound just didn't do it for me initially.  I missed the sparseness, the mangled weirdness and inexplicable turns.  This album is after all, unlike Imaginary Falcons, an exercise in trying to perfect a specifically cultivated style, even if said style is not at once identifiable.

But after a few spins this record really began to grow on me; the song writing is great, catchy as hell, and there are plenty of weird lingering subtleties to pick up on through repeated listens.  I knew I dug it when the songs began to pop into my head unexpectedly.  Usually if I'm not sure how I feel about a piece of music I assume that getting it frequently stuck in my head and it not annoying me means that I probably like it despite whatever reservations I may have previously harbored regarding it's possible shortcomings.  These songs have been stuck in my head on a near constant basis for weeks now.   

It is worth noting that on the band's Facebook page they have their genre listed as "reggae"; I find this very interesting.  While the record is heavily influenced by reggae and dub elements, I feel the overall sound is a pretty far cry from what most individuals would generally consider to constitute either genre; given that, it seems pretty ballsy for two white folks living in Wisconsin in this day in age to outright refer to their weird, psychedelic indie rock as reggae.  Of course, while some bands might exploit such a classification for the sake of misguided ironic humor, I really don't think that was Peaking Lights' intention; I believe that they really were trying to make their own version of reggae, and they actually did a pretty amazing job.  In the often shameful arena of reggae re-interpretation by white people, I'd say Peaking Lights are at least up there with the Slits and certainly better than the Clash in most cases (but not 'Guns of Brixton', that song is the shit).

I'm looking forward to jamming this album on the regular for the next few months straight as this music has summer written all over it.  It really does seem like it would be the perfect soundtrack for just about any fun summer activity I can think of: hanging out at the beach, road tripping with the windows down, having a picnic, eating an ice cream cone in the heat, or just kicking back with the AC blasting after a nice walk or bike ride.  Another great record by a very awesome band.  I can't wait to see what they do next.  Highly recommended listening for your hazier moments.  Go buy it here, then go check out the vintage clothing and record boutique that Aaron and Indra run in Madison called The Good Style Shop.