Peachfuzz - We Are Solid State

A few years back a bunch of Leeds/Bradford punk types launched the first DIY Stadium Rock Band, Threads. Full on 70s rock with no pretensions of 'making it'. Happily turning up to play with shouty crust bands in the backrooms of pubs. Just doing the usual DIY punk band thing but playing 70s rock.

Peachfuzz seem to come from a similar place. They're on Bombed Out who are stalwarts of the Yorkshire DIY punk scene. Bombed Out's 15 years of plugging away doing the DIY thing is certainly a big 'up yours' to all the dullard crust punks that bemoaned the 90s post greenday/fat-wreck generation.

Peachfuzz are more of a pop rock thing than Threads though. I swear to god i just heard a riff that plain ripped of Cheap Trick. If you don't like Cheap Trick then you and me are going to have to have serious discussions about your taste in music.

The blurb mentions stuff like Soul Asylum and Sugar and all that 90s jazz. Pretty much bang on.

It's definitely reminiscent of that lost sound without being pointless retro fetishists. Think it kind of comes from that punks that like Bruce Springsteen thing that seems to have been fairly popular recently. I'm going to come out with one of the most controversial things I've written on the internet. I don't really like Bruce Springsteen. Possibly more controversial in some punk circles than my opinion that The Clash only have a couple of good songs. Maybe the Bruce Springsteen thing comes from the occasional bits of harmonica. I'd mention Bob Dylan but I'd only start ranting again.

This is really good though. Peachfuzz have a total grip on writing actual songs with proper hooks and choruses and all the rest. It's a neat little blend of 70s power pop stuff, pop rock and the bands that came from post-major label Husker Du.

Here's the label blurb which is a fair assessment of Peachfuzz's sound:-

Determined not to simply re-trace their steps and release Everything Takes Forever Part 2, Peachfuzz have instead turned everything up to 11 and thrown caution to the wind with 10 tracks that somehow manage to bridge the gap between balls-to-the-wall rock and roll and their softer, more measured power-pop sensibilities.

This is all neatly illustrated by the opening track, a Social Distortion styled punk rock anthem that straight away sets the stage for what's to come.

Only it doesn't. Not really... "Like I Do" comes across like Screaming Trees at their best (Adam even goes a little Mark Lanegan as he repeats the song's title at the end), "If It Makes It Easier" harks back to the Teenage Fanclub influences that have been a part of the Peachfuzz DNA since day one and Nowhere Calling gives definite nods to Neil Young. The album ends with the epic Oh Cordeliah! - the longest track ever to appear on a Bombed Out release which ends things in style with a coda the aforementioned Fannies would have been proud of back in their Bandwagonesque days. Oh, and we've not even mentioned the solos! Dear God... The solos!

Yep, make no mistake - Adam Jones and the lads have gone and done good. We seem to be going through a 90s alt-rock resurgence and 2012 has already blessed us with a great Soul Asylum album and Bob Mould returning to his Sugar-y best so perhaps it's fitting that Peachfuzz have chosen so confidently to push onwards and upwards with We Are Solid State. To put it bluntly, it's a fucking beast.