Great Peacock. E.P.

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Reading a bio of this duo especially on April First might lead one to think someone’s playing a joke here. Their name for example, Great Peacock? What on earth? Easily explained however by Andrew Nelson, “We kept noticing this hilarious trend of bands with names like Fleet Foxes, Deer Tick, Vulture Whale—they all had two names,” Nelson says, “one of which was always an animal.” What about the perennial poncho worn by the other member of the duo, Blount Floyd? Well he seems married to it stating in an interview when asked what he’s never leave home without he responded “my poncho.” It might make him look like a dyed in the wool hippy but then Clint Eastwood looked cool in a poncho and god forbid that anyone would pull him up for that.

So poncho wearing Floyd and smart guy Nelson have known each other for years and shared some bands together but eventually they’ve realised their voices sit together as smugly as a bug in a rug and having ditched their amplified guitars they’ve recorded a sublime E.P that sits firmly in the tradition of two man vocal harmonies with a line traced from the Everlies to the Lost Brothers. They do add some muscle to the songs with some fine backing (Dan Fernandez – Pedal Steel Guitar, Jeremy Byrd – Drums, Nathan Roland – Bass, ,Adam Stewart – Fiddle) and at times there’s a tendency to sound somewhat like the aforementioned Fleet Foxes and the Avett Brothers. The opening songs, Take Me To The Mountain and Desert Lark are the primary culprits here as they get an almost anthemic delivery, soaring at times but the guys sound great, fully fledged and confident. They shine however on the remainder of the songs. Sailing is a beautiful ballad with acoustic guitars and vocals to the fore while a keening pedal steel billows in a plaintive manner. It segues wonderfully into Family Home where the pedal steel hums and soars over a sumptuous pillow of acoustic guitars and piano. The sound conjured up is reminiscent of David Crosby’s If Only I Could Remember My Name and one could imagine that good old Jerry Garcia is piloting this one. They close the E.P with the gentle Bluebird which has a fine campfire feel and showcases their fine harmonies.

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Fire Mountain. Of The Dust.

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There’s certainly a thing right now for backwoods type folky music topped off with earnest vocals and harmony singing very much in evidence. Think of Fleet Foxes, Midlake or even Bon Iver and add Fire Mountain to the list. Hailing from Troy, Alabama they’ve enlisted the talents of Arthur Alligood (himself a fine purveyor of introspective Americana folk songs) as a producer and recorded this, their second E. P. in Nashville. With a fairly basic line up of acoustic and electric guitars, piano, bass and drums they manage to conjure up a wonderful sound that is crystal clear and at times sounds as if it was carved from nature. There’s a rarefied air to the songs as if they were being played in a forest clearing with the rippling piano recalling mountain streams. Perry Brown’s plaintive voice sings of fear and regret, of a child’s fear of darkness and the finality of death. Overall there’s an existential angst, a loneliness best expressed in No One’s Help.
While Brown is the frontman for the band mention must be made of the excellent piano playing of Bryan Segraves throughout while Aaron Newberry adds some fine electric guitar especially on the dynamic opening song Black Heart and Torch. While Black Heart with its grim splendour might be the song that gathers most mentions Torch is the standout song. A simple tale of alienation which relates how the child fathers the man the band play delicately with piano and guitar creating a chilly frisson. Excellent stuff.

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Torch