SIC ALPS were one of those bands which, with the amount of the talent in its ranks, could only burn bright and, like an unstable isotope, emit members to spin off into other musical pursuits, eventually to transform itself in a musical half-life. Tim Hellman went into the ranks of Thee Oh Sees; Mike Donovan was joined by still other members of John Dwyer’s psych voyagers in The Peacers and Ty Segall also initially stepped forward from the one outfit into the other before himself spinning out into other aural worlds.
What’s set The Peacers apart from other bands from that scene they’re travelling alongside (and exchanging members with) is a more baroque, acoustic approach to their garage vision; maybe a little more Pearls Before Swine in that initial mix than say, Bubble Puppy, maybe more ’66 than ’69.
Drag City released two fine albums, The Peacers and Introducing The Crimsmen, full of journeys round the dark side of the mushroom such as “Jurgen’s Layout”, in the middle of the last decade; but they’ve been quiet since 2017 – until now.
They’re back with a new single, “Irish Suit”; check the video below. Oblique comment on the masked world we currently inhabit comes in that mesh fruit bag face covering, maybe; strange, cut-up sentences steal up the screen, all to visually inform a tune with bags of atmosphere and a deliciously baroque-psych vibe. Cool.
All of which we can take as a announcement for a new album for Drag City – excellent.
The Peacers’ Blexxed Rec will be released by Drag City on March 26th on mp3, FLAC, cassette and vinyl, and is available to pre-order right now over at the label’s webstore.
