Peal
Beautiful Baby Elephant
Indianapolis-based Peal don’t reinvent the wheel on their strangely titled indie debut Beautiful Baby Elephant, but fans of Counting Crows, Sister Hazel and early Vertical Horizon will surely find something of interest on the album’s 10 tracks.
With Vertical Horizon drummer Ed Toth handling production duties, perhaps that’s not surprising, and even though Tim Wilsbach doesn’t have the strongest voice in the world and there are a few filler tracks, songs like “Say Goodbye”, “Carousel Junkie” and “Down” are all good examples of the band’s trademark acoustic-based melodies.
There’s plenty of diversity on offer, with the upbeat pop-rock of “Maria” a neat contrast to the more edgy and rough-around-the-edges vibe of album closer “Pure”, but the standout track is “Fall Away” – complete with a memorable violin refrain and knockout chorus.
