Peach Melba - "Melting Face"
Peach Melba is a newly formed garage rock trio who creates delightfully soothing yet noisy tunes in the vein of bands like the Pixies, Fuzz, and Meatbodies. The band just released their debut album, Melting Face, on October 25, 2024 via The Lasting Dose Records.
Die-hard alternative rock fan that I am, I'm always psyched to hear of a new garage rock band in the heavy underground, and was even more interested to learn that Peach Melba includes Moritz Ermen-Bausch, the drummer from Daevar. However, I admit that I wasn't entirely prepared for the legitimate garage psych that greeted me upon first listen, filling me with nostalgia and surrounding me with its multi-dimensional yet weighty sound. In fact, I loved it so much that I immediately started writing down things I love about Peach Melba and Melting Face as a whole, instead of my usual making notes about each track individually followed by my "Final Thoughts". So, this particular review will be written in reverse in a sense...because this time that kind of makes sense (to me, at least).
Perhaps best of all, Peach Melba fully encapsulates one of my favorite characteristics of garage rock: doing more with less. By stripping things down, the focus is diverted from any frippery and naturally centers on the moody, raw emotion conveyed by simpler methods such as hushed/harsh vocals, loud/quiet instrumentals, and distortion. To me, these things very accurately illustrate specific moods as emotions. In a nutshell, contrast is the primary vehicle through which the mood and message is delivered.
Taking the loud-quiet technique a step further, the instrumental moods often change drastically in the course of a single song, going from apprehensive and melancholy to altogether cheerful and triumphant. While this isn't a new thing in garage rock, I feel like Peach Melba goes the extra mile with it, really emphasizing that contrast: the loud is louder, the quiet is quieter, the grays are grayer, the colors are brighter, the daydream vibes are tangible and harsh reality stares you directly in the eyes.
Much like the Pixies, Peach Melba alternates between male and female vocals, though the male vocals here are certainly more melodic than those of Frank Black. This adds further to the dreamy element of the band's sound, at times creating a clever hallucinatory effect.
As we get into each track individually, it's the perfect time to add that Melting Face has an absolutely beautiful flow as an album, each song moving seamlessly into the next. Sometimes the songs barrel into each other with palpable energy, others they move so smoothly that you don't even notice the change, as a cloud moving across the sky. This permits the music to communicate with chameleon-like skill: speaking with clear lucidity or disguising itself in a haze as the mood sees fit. This fluid movement makes Melting Face a perfect album to play from start to finish with no skips.
Melting Face
1.) Intro
An instrumental, pulsing electric buzz paired with carefree dreaminess that evaporates into...
2.) Oort Cloud
Oort Cloud begins as gray wisps and ends in a confident noise rock thunderstorm that reverberates through your body as it does your speakers.
3.) White Noise
White Noise skillfully uses the loud-quiet tactic, ebbing and flowing like the tide. It's as hypnotic and soothing as its namesake but still delightfully...noisy.
4.) The Drummer
Ironically, one of my favorite moments on The Drummer is when the percussion briefly quiets to watch as raggedy bass dances with bright and kaleidoscopic guitar. This makes brilliant use of contrast, almost a Beauty and the Beast scenario.
5.) Exit Dream
This was the first single released from Melting Face and it is, in effect, what garage rock is made of; it's moody yet apprehensive, alternatively tip-toeing and shouting from the rooftops. This infectious song fills me with sheer bliss as it reminds me why I've always loved this genre so much.
6.) Gray Hay
Gray Hay begins in stark contrast to Exit Dream, with an altogether gloomy but mesmerically gauzy tone. This song also beautifully highlights bassist Sophie's vocals. Gray Hay picks up the pace about 2/3 of the way through with what is arguably the happiest music on the entire album, utterly jubilant, shaking you from your monochrome daze and compelling you to move.
7.) Dusty Mush
Dusty Mush was the second single released from the album. Another garage rock masterpiece, this could almost be a sister song to Exit Dream. It's bright but in-your-face, packing a ton of attitude.
8.) Melting Face
This title track is one of the loveliest songs on the album, reminding me a lot of The Breeders with its somehow opaquely dark yet airy and buoyant effect. Overall, Melting Face creates the idea that something chaotic is happening all around you, but you don't care because you've completely lost your mind. That mind-bending tonality particularly shines through as the vocals calmly sing,
"He walks again, through blazing flames
His skin starts melting, it's melting from his face..."
Speaking of vocals, Melting Face is another great spotlight on Sophie's voice.
9.) Spiral Streaming
Percussive with a whisper of post-punk in its quiet parts and with loud parts that seem to be coming in even louder now (and I love it), Spiral Streaming expertly builds tension. With a stronger emphasis on psychedelic rock and simple lyrics that utilize repetition, this aptly-named song does have a spiraling effect, ending the album in a powerful and thought-provoking way.
More About Peach Melba
You can follow Peach Melba and listen to their music at the following links:
Peach Melba Is:
Sophie Tritschler - Bass and Vocals
Sebastian Laudage - Guitars and Vocals
Moritz Ermen-Bausch - Drums, Percussion, and Vocals.
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