At first, Pad, the new long-player from Peel Dream Magazine seemed like the work of a different band. I had to play it a few times before it clicked. And it did, but in a way that's not like how the group's earlier records did. The Slumberland Records release is, in some ways, a tremendous leap forward for these players, one where they almost leave behind the obvious points of reference that inspired their earlier offerings as they strike out for their own territory.
"Pictionary", an early single this go-round, sounds a bit like late Nineties Stereolab so we're not in entirely new territory. A cynic might say that the band's simply moved from one era of 'Lab to another to take inspiration from, but there's more going on here. The tracks here on Pad expand and progress sometimes at a deliberately leisurely pace. "Hamlet" owes as much to Gideon Gaye-era High Llamas as it does anyone else. But there's also something here that veers into the lane trod by late Sixties/early Seventies Beach Boys, with "Message the Manager" and "Jennifer Hindsight" the obvious tracks to highlight in this regard.
All that being said, Pad is somehow more expansive, the selections less beholden to the band's points of reference. Things breathe here, and tunes ride melodies that are as light and airy as earlier Peel Dream Magazine numbers were anarchic and noisy. "Back in the Band" is more or less a Van Dyke Parks tribute, and that's a surprising thing to write about a group who arrived rather deliberately mining a vein of indie-pop perfected by Stereolab on the first Switched On compilation on this very same seminal U.S. label. Peel Dream Magazine have grown their sound, and while the album requires a careful listen, the pleasures here are as rich, maybe more so, than the immediate hooks of the first releases. This is the rare instance of a band maturing in terms of sound and approach, without sacrificing the spirit of their whole approach.
Pad by Peel Dream Magazine is out on Slumberland Records on Friday.
[Photo: Force Field PR]