Indie band Peach Pit is back in action this spring with the release of their third LP on March 3. “From 2 to 3” is an obvious but fitting name for an album that marks a distinct shift for the band.
The spring of 2020 was supposed to be a busy season for the Vancouver band, with their sophomore album “You and Your Friends” dropping in early April. Unfortunate timing with the onset of the pandemic meant a canceled tour, but instead of derailing the band, the four Canadians used the long hours of quarantine to pick up the pieces and plow ahead on more songwriting.
Two years later, fruits of their isolated labors are displayed on “From 2 to 3.” It’s immediately clear that the album has a different tang to it, bordering on a whole new flavor.
Peach Pit’s unique style, known as “chewed bubble gum pop,” blends catchy melodies and killer guitar solos with somber, introspective vocals, but their new album adds a warm amber glow into the mix.
An atmospheric change could be one way to describe the shift, as the volume is brought down a couple notches. Lead singer and lyricist Neil Smith described the album to Sony Music in a November press release as “a collection of songs that were written late at night, alone in a small apartment with a hushed voice so as not to wake anyone.”
This shift is reflected in the instrumentation. The band’s Instagram bio jokes that they deliver “Good ol’ southern Canadian music,” and “From 2 to 3” does indeed feature Americana-esque acoustic elements, even mixing in lap guitar and cowbell. Smith attributes the change to oldies influences like Neil Young and Tom Petty, as well as Paul McCartney’s “Ram,” one of the first indie pop albums, which marked a departure from the former Beatles’ rock style.
Despite the stylistic change, “Ram” is still McCartney to the core, and similarly Peach Pit stays centered around their winning combination of Smith’s storytelling and lead guitarist Chris Vanderkooy’s killer licks.
There’s less shredding from Vanderkooy than on past projects, but the versatility on display means the guitar elements are as strong as ever. Vanderkooy opens the album on “Up Grandville” dancing back and forth on high notes which lends a dreamlike feel to the song and breaks into a boogying solo to “Vicky” that accentuates the tune’s playful lyrics. Later Vanderkooy really uncorks at the end of “Give Up Baby Go,” combining staccato harmonizing guitars with handclaps, making the song the real highlight of the album.
Smith’s songwriting is as strong as ever as his lyrics veer away from the breakup songs that checkered their past albums. He has a knack for teasing meaningful stories out of the mundane, like the water droplets on a telephone wire which spawned “Drips On a Wire” or thinking through what it might be like living next to your friend on “Vicky.” Smith’s fresh writing provides fun quirks and manages to avoid kitsch fluff.
There’s still plenty of bitter amongst the sweet, however, with the standout “Give Up Baby Go” touching on Smith’s journey to sobriety, a persistent songwriting theme for the non-alcoholic beer loving musician today.
The world changed as it went inside in 2020, and it is evident in “From 2 to 3” that Peach Pit evolved as well. While others may struggle to shake off pandemic fatigue, Peach Pit has come out swinging with their best album yet, proving they have the versatility and juice to entertain for years to come.
4.5/5 Big Oles