The UK indie music scene is a notoriously fickle place, with prestigious awards like the Mercury Prize proving to be graveyards for erstwhile it-bands Klaxons, The Zutons and Guillemots. Birmingham’s Peace is the latest fledging act hoping that a ‘BBC Sound of...’ nomination doesn’t turn out to be a kiss of death. They first came to prominence early last year, with a dark Vampire Weekend-meets-Foals sound that received generous plaudits and significant online hyperbole.
Peace’s brand of brisk guitar-rock with ’90s grunge aesthetics dominates ‘In Love’, the fourpiece’s Jim Abbiss-produced debut record that has churned out singles like the infectious ‘Lovesick’ and trippy ‘California Daze’. Harrison Koisser and company might not be 2013’s answer to Arctic Monkeys (that accolade goes to the irrepressible Savages), but they have displayed enough promise over the past 18 months to suggest that they will be in the spotlight longer than The Ting Tings and Everything Everything. Wong Boon Ken