“searcy_peter”
Peter Searcy
Could You Please & Thank You
Time Bomb
Peter Searcy was the frontman for seminal Louisville, Kentucky punkers Squirrel Bait, and later spent time in the bands Big Wheel and Starbilly. These days, he’s working in poppier territory. In a voice that sounds like a cross between Matthew Sweet and Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies, Searcy delivers catchy gems that owe a debt to the school of Westerberg.
“You can move the room around but the furniture won’t change your life,” he sings in the multi-tracked vocal on the opening “Furniture.” The song practically leaps out of the stereo with a catchy chorus and barrage of acoustic and electric guitars. It proves a hard act to follow, but “Losing Light Fast” has some of the same attributes. Searcy slows things down for the acoustic, sensitive-guy pop of “Broken.” “I wouldn’t fix you if I could… cause it’s the cracks that make you good,” he sings. “Hateful” is roaring, catchy pop with a somewhat overly repetitive chorus that brings to mind another obvious Searcy influence, Bob Mould. Searcy later visits slightly funkier territory on the CD’s title track and “Bored.”
Producer Tim Patalan (Sponge, Fretblanket) adds an accessible, crisp sheen to Searcy’s songs without relying on a lot of studio tricks. And while some of this record seems a bit too lacking in character to make it truly memorable, it is a promising first step.
Time Bomb Recordings, 219 Broadway #519, Laguna Beach, CA 92651; http://www.timebombrecordings.com
