Live Review... Peace @ Queen's Social Club, Sheffield, 30th January 2015

You’d be mistaken for thinking Peace aren’t a big deal judging by the venues they’ve picked to play in over the next few months. The B-Town band have left academies to one side to showcase material from their second album, 'Happy People', in front of more intimate audiences. 

Queen’s Social Club is their residency for the next two nights and follows suit with it’s beer stained carpets and tinsel covered walls. Filled with a few hundred teenagers, and couples sat on laps around the fringes, it feels like a weird school disco, where the wacky kids stick out like a sore thumb. 

Once upon a time Peace would have fitted into that category, but having stuck it out in their mum’s garage and donning dubious haircuts, they’ve now grown into something everyone craves. Bodies swirl in a swollen mass towards the feet of singer Harry Koisser’s trailing fur coat as the band rattle off ‘Higher Than The Sun’ and ‘Follow Baby’ from first album, ‘In Love’. The opportunity to play new material is latched to as ‘O You’ and ‘Perfect Skin’ are heard for the first time, the latter opting for the chance to console niggling anxieties; ‘I wish I had perfect skin, I wish I was tall and thin’, not the first unusual lyric choices we’ve become accustomed to.

Other new tracks, ‘Money’ and ‘Lost On Me’ are already instant B-Town classics and send the crowd into a frenzy, but it’s ‘1998’ at full thrust which really sorts the tie-dye from the die-hards. The twisted version of Binary Finary’s dance hit isn’t the only 1998 floor filler to leak from their guitars though as ATB’s, ‘9PM [Til I Come]’ ,rings around the room amongst woozier tones of ‘Float Forever’ and ‘Sugarstone’. The band opt for a different pre-millennium sound though in romanticised ‘Someday’, where Koisser’s vocals slip in and out of Liam Gallagher whines, whilst he stands unashamedly in some sort of rat onesie - a questionable choice of dress even for him. Thankfully one of the stronger new additions to Peace’s set comes in the form of ‘World Pleasure’, an unassuming savior to Brit-pop which is meant for stadiums but stands glorified amongst sticky condensated walls. Bass player, Samuel Koisser even takes a step into the crowd to show off his funk-fueled riffs, as Harry hails the crowd, ‘one of the best we’ve ever had’.

If there’s any proof needed that Peace are one of the most important bands in British music right now, it’ll be seen this year. Shows of all sizes and a second album which teeters on the consistency of their debut could bring about the revival of Brit-pop to guitar-thirsty crowds.

(@JJShreeve)

Peace Play Surprise 100 Club Show

Surprises. They’re either the sweetest thing in life or sink like a led balloon. Last night’s surprise was thankfully far from the latter. It was very much a case of drop your plans and get off work to join the queues, Peace are in town. 

For those lucky enough to win tickets to the gig, announced just the day before, they made up a sweaty and cramped crowd whom the band rekindled their love with, after their array of big festival stage appearances over summer. Visitors to The 100 Club on Oxford Street would be blessed with not just Peace but two other acts as well; fellow B-town boys JAWS and Nottingham outfit, Childhood. Both washed the crowd in psychedelic groove and set up the main act of the night. 

They’ve learnt how to do these things now, Koisser and co. The setlist doesn’t look too dissimilar to that of their Birthdays shows almost 18 months ago, but it’s now been tinkered with and mastered. Their ‘1998’ cover kicks things off with it’s most spine-tingling of build ups and the well known songs are rattled off, the crowd growing in liveliness. There’s room for the new too. ‘Money’, ‘Lost On Me’ and ‘World Pleasure’ which are set to feature on their second album, all made an appearance. By the end of the set and ‘Float Forever’, the band were met on stage by sweat drenched teens mauling the various members, Harrison at the back trying to squeeze out the final lyrics and guitarist Douglas Castle hopping aboard the crowd.

After a few drinks and a chance to transform into his ‘pre-show’ clothes, I spoke to frontman Harrison Koisser about the show, their second album, and their future third album...

Hi Harrison, how’d you feel that went?

Really well, I thought it went good. It was a really good show.

It was only announced yesterday. Has it been planned for long?

No, pretty last minute, fairly last minute, not very long at all really.

Childhood and JAWS also played tonight, are you big admirers of them?

Yeah, they’re mates, we’ve been playing around with those guys for quite a long time, they’re beautiful bands.

Last year you played a string of shows at Birthdays in Dalston, how did this compare to that?

Yeah, this was quite similar to Birthdays in that it’s quite intimate. I prefer this to be honest, the Birthdays shows were alright but this was really good actually. We haven’t done a show like this in ages, it’s really fun.

You’ve done lots of festivals recently, do you prefer the bigger stages or smaller venues?

It’s two really different things ya know. I think with big festie shows we come off stage and don’t feel tired or drained. Whereas tonight you come off stage and you’re like woah! You’ve given everything to the show, so I dunno which is better.

I saw tonight you had to retreat to the back of the stage as the crowd spilled over...

Yeah, I wasn’t really sure what to do. I don’t really mind that, it’s just stuff gets broken so it’s like ‘I’m off!’

You played three of your new songs tonight. When can we expect the new record?

January. I’m pretty sure it’s January now, because we wanted to do it in August but the closer it got, we wanted to put out quite a bit of material before, and we put out 3 songs, maybe we should put out 4 or 5. Just try something new, get a lot of material out there.

Would you say this record’s evolved from ‘In Love’?

Definitely. I think we’re just exploring more stuff, different things, experimenting with different genres and stuff. We’re all a bit more musical now and we all understand what we’re doing a bit more. There’s a bit more groove on this record.

Are you intending on taking a break after this record?

Nah definitely not. I think we’ll probably tour for two years and then release another album, try and record it during that.

You’ve been pretty much non-stop over the past two years wouldn’t you say?

Maybe yeah. I think that’s the way to do it though isn’t it. While you’re young, just keep on releasing records and see where it goes. I mean the sound will probably evolve quite a bit. 

I’ve noticed you’ve changed your appearance since coming off stage. Do you have any post-show routine?

Yeah, it’s nice putting on a new pair of clothes, I’m energised again. I’ve gone into my after show look!

And have you got any plans to stick around in London for the next few days?

Yeah, I’m staying in London at the moment. I’m gonna do some more writing for the third album. It’s really weird writing for the third album before the second one’s out, but we’re doing that now so I’m gonna stay around for a few months until December.

So there you have it. Keep your eyes and ears open, ‘cos there’s no stopping Peace for now. See their setlist below:

1998

Bloodshake

Toxic

Money

Follow Baby

California Daze

Higher Than The Sun

Lost On Me

Scumbag

Wraith

World Pleasure

Lovesick

Float Forever

By Joshua Shreeve (@JJShreeve)

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