Peach Kelli Pop
Halloween Mask 7”
Lauren Records
What does the drummer of a Canadian garage punk band do when she’s able to slip away from her boy bandmates in The White Wires? She gathers up the girls and writes some sunny-side up power pop under the adorable moniker Peach Kelli Pop. Actually, though the melody is bright, the lyrics of “Halloween Mask” are not so peachy. It takes repeated listens, with headphones, to decipher them beneath the fuzz effects and guitar, but here’s the chorus: “Halloween Mask/ I Wear it every day… Beneath my skin is grey.”
Songwriter and founder Allie Hanlon explains the song as being about the pressures put on women, by society and by themselves, regarding their looks. Sung with sweet harmonies and with a mid tempo strumming that invites mild head nodding and pleasant swaying, the title track of this 7” release is a sneaky and smart garage pop tune with a message.
As for the B-sides: “Hundred Dollar Bill” is a rambunctious punch inspired by the strip club industry, and “Stuck In A Dream” is an acoustic break-up ballad with the heart aching chorus “I can’t wake up/ I’m stuck in a dream/ Trying to figure out what this all means.” For all the tasty lollipop licks Peach Kelli Pop offers when they power up the pop, it’s this quiet, confessional closer that has the most heart.
