PEACEFEATHER

Recently got a nice package full of hypnotic sounds from the exclt Philly label Honeymoon Music. The best band on this bubbling imprint is probably Niagara Falls, whose two CDs of slow-moving atmospheres and rattling noise debris clearly need more time than I've given them...but right now my ears are more fervently occupied by the mysterious gaggle called Peacefeather. Don't let the name scare you - maybe these guys are hippies in real life, but their music occupies the dark, spooky strain of Krautrock birthed by Can and Faust, extended by International Harvester / Parson Sound / Trad Gras Och Stenar, and recently split into a million hairs by No-Neck Blues Band, Davis Redford Triad, Acid Mothers Temple, etc.

Not that Peacefeather are just the sum of these influences, though I can't really say they are much more yet...but this self-titled CD-R is only their first release, and it's not like there's tons of bands doing this kind of thing this well anyway, so fuck it if they're not 100% distinct. They more than make up for it in range and skill - even Peacefeather's most predictable moments, like the happy, Neu-ish jam on the second half of "Cathode Ray,"or the sparkling beat and dreamy guitar figures on "On the Doppler," produce automatic rushes by turning gradual accelerations into mind-bending momentum.

The best stuff on Peacefeather needs no apologist: "Chrom" is an eerie black cloud of No-Neck like rattling rhythms, "Superluminal" conjures a thick mist of blurry wah and moaning croak recalling Davis Redford Triad's most mysterious moments, "Opening of the Future" slowly gathers moss like a sticky elephant lumbering across grassy plains, and the best track, "Peacekeeper," is a hall of sound mirrors with numerous drones and noises bouncing off each other in infinite loops. That latter song (available on the Honeymoon site, so I'm linking "Superluminal" instead - also check out the band's myspace page for more cuts) proves how abstract and noisy Krautrock can/should be - the reliance on rhythm and general jammy tone tends to make this style seem like "just" improv-rock sometimes, but there's tons of sound explorations and deconstructed textures inherent in Krautrock, and Peacefeather have a great chance to cut some new edges into this sound's well-worn saw...

mp3:
PEACEFEATHER - "Superluminal" from Peacefeather