Peace De Résistance

Reviews

Peace De Résistance Lullaby for the Debris LP

Moses Brown’s second offering as PEACE DE RÉSISTANCE is a beautiful contradiction—it is both familiar and foreign, unsettling and comforting. The sounds are immediately recognizable, calling to mind the sleazier side of ’70s New York City glam rock, but no contemporaries come to mind. The music feels nocturnal, while the lyrics are the kinds of thoughts that fill your day, working to get by for yet another month. This is all to illustrate that PEACE DE RÉSISTANCE is not easily pinned down, which is part of what makes this record so special. Brown conveys themes to the listener in such a specific and personal manner, and that skill transforms ideas that certainly are far from new territory into feelings both fresh and urgent; being alienated in your own city (“Ain’t What It Used to Be”), trying to get by in a system rigged against most of us (“40 Times the Rent,” “Pay Us More”). Lullaby for the Debris manages to take the strong foundation laid in Brown’s debut Bits and Pieces, and takes his project to new heights.

Peace De Résistance Bits and Pieces LP

Bits and Pieces is the first LP from this Moses Brown (INSTITUTE, GLUE) solo project, whose only other release was a limited-run cassette EP of fuzzed-out, lo-fi glam that came out back in 2020. The sound’s been cleaned up a bit for this here official debut, but it’s still a lower-fi affair that weds the grooves of T. REX’s Electric Warrior, the looseness of the VELVET UNDERGROUND’s Loaded, and the oddball lilt of JIMMY JUKEBOX’s “Motorboat”. Apparently, it’s also pulling a lot from Zamrock, a Zambian take on late ’60s guitar rock that evolved alongside glam (it’s a genre I was wholly unfamiliar with that I’m now keen to dig into). So, throughout the ten tracks on this record you get lite touches of psychedelia, dub (mostly in its exploration of studio space), and even Krautrock. Perhaps the most distinct element of the album—and the one most likely to rankle listeners—is Moses’ vocal performance. It’s certainly pulling from all the above influences, but at the same time it’s this bizarre sing-songy croak—like straight vocal fry—often delivered as though it’s being issued from the bottom of a k-hole. It really ups the records overall woozy vibe and helps this feel like a unique take on a familiar genre. My guess is that this isn’t going to be for everyone, but I love it.

 

Peace De Résistance Hedgemakers cassette

I’ll take a hedgemaker over a hedge-funder any day of the fucking week, and this cat probably concurs, as PEACE DE RÉSISTANCE is based in NYC, where the hedgers breed like rats. I dunno how or why GEORGE BRIGMAN keeps on coming up in my reviews lately, but the sumptuous guitar fuzz on this tape immediately reminds me of his swampy buzz. On the title track, things get loose in an almost Zamrock way, which becomes the dominant style. It’s a novel move for what seems like a slacker bedroom rocker project. Unfortunately, the vocals tend towards a more common modern problem—disaffection communicated via a nasal tone. But the grooves are airy and cloudlike and the riffs are solid, so I’m on the lookout for what’s next.