Peace

When Michael Willock, the guitarist for my favorite all-boy rock band Peace, asked me if I would like to go to the horse races with him and his bandmates Dan Geddes (guitar/vocals), Geoff Dembicki (drums), and Connor Mayor (bass) to do an interview, I gladly said “Yes.”

The first time I interviewed Peace, half of them were on mushrooms. They didn’t tell me until the end of the photoshoot, when I asked their drummer, “What is wrong with you?” because he started babbling on and on about Conan O’Brien and giggling to himself. Who shows up to a photoshoot on mushrooms?? That is weird. We became fast friends after that.

Peace’s debut album, My Face, was my favorite of last year, so when they finished recording their sophomore effort, I immediately forced their drummer to send me the album. Again, they have proven that rock 'n’ roll can still be interesting, inventive, and melodic without feeling washed up and tired. Plus, Geddes knows how to write a hook like no one else. You know, a totally unpredictable, off-kilter hook that somehow won’t get out of your head after the first listen. Peace recently signed with Suicide Squeeze Records and their sophomore album, The World Is Too Much With Us, drops in the fall. It’s catchy, smart and romantic as hell.

As for the horse races, I was excited, and there is no better group of boys to smoke, drink, and modestly gamble with than Peace. We only got to bet on one race because, unlike the veteran gamblers who were dressed in big hats and flowing linen slacks, we were late and already kind of drunk. Dembicki won $20. The rest of us lost. But Dembicki was the real loser because he gambled away all his winnings on slot machines in the basement and then road his bike into a lavender bush. Like total rock 'n' roll stars, we took the bus back to the city. I was molested, propositioned, and danced on by a really loud Frenchman. Peace didn't save me, they just watched him grab my leg and laughed as I slapped him away and yelled, "Enough!" That's what I like most about Peace; they know women don't need to be saved.

Did you have any goals with the new album?
Dan: The process was exactly the same, but it rendered different results.
Connor: I think this album is the best thing we have ever done. [Laughs]
Dan: I’m singing a lot more. It’s lyrically different. I wanted to write less kitchen-sink type of lyrics—my day-to-day life—and more about broader issues.

You know what my favorite song on the album is…
Dan: Yeah, well I did want to write just some straight up love songs.

And you did. “Your Hand In Mine” is the most romantic song I have ever heard. What do you think of that song?
Michael: This is a direct quote of what Dan said when we were recording that song: “The thing about this song is that I don’t agree with myself.”

Do you ever share your lyrics with your bandmates?
Michael: Dan always says to us, “Okay, I got the lyrics done”, but he never shares them. So, the song is finished, but we have no concept of what the whole thing sounds like until we record it.
Connor: Our PA is so shitty, so we can’t really hear what he is saying. We kind of get the Charlie Brown version of the lyrics.
Dan: I’m not afraid to show my lyrics.

Do you fancy yourself a poet?
Dan: Not in the band.

But in your personal life?
Dan: [Laughs] In my poetry endeavors, yes. If we make it as a band, I will never pursue poetry. You can’t do that.
Connor: I don’t know…Billy Corgan did it.
Dan: That book is the worst. The Poetry Of My Heart. I’ve read it.
Connor: Me too. I read a few poems. It’s just junior high bitch poetry.
Dan: You can tell he really likes the Romantics, but he’s interpreting it all wrong.

Would you tell him that if you met him?
Dan: Yeah, probably. I have no personal respect for Billy Corgan.

Do you guys have plans to tour? I mean, you are one of my favorite bands ever, but you guys are lazy. Now you have this sophomore record and American label support, so what’s going to happen?
Geoff: It’s getting real now. We’re going to tour America. We are going to make another album and then tour Europe.
Dan: We are lazy about the organizational stuff, but not about the music.

Yeah, but you have to have a balance. You guys have no get-up-and-go.
Dan: We are lacking in that department.

I’ve been reading Johnny Ramone’s autobiography and the Ramones had all these strict rules on tour like they never roughed it, they always got hotels, no smoking or eating food in the van, etc. Do you guys have any band rules?
Connor: Well, we don’t like roughing it.

What’s the roughest tour situation Peace has ever had?
Dan: The two nights in a row on the side of the van in Cranbrook, B.C were really bad.
Geoff: We were driving back from Regina, which was a heinous show—

Why?
Geoff: Oh, no one was there but patrons. On stage, we asked the crowd if anyone could put us up for the night; this had been working, but this time we were met by silence, so we slept - Vice

When Michael Willock, the guitarist for my favorite all-boy rock band Peace, asked me if I would like to go to the horse races with him and his bandmates Dan Geddes (guitar/vocals), Geoff Dembicki (drums), and Connor Mayor (bass) to do an interview, I gladly said “Yes.”

The first time I interviewed Peace, half of them were on mushrooms. They didn’t tell me until the end of the photoshoot, when I asked their drummer, “What is wrong with you?” because he started babbling on and on about Conan O’Brien and giggling to himself. Who shows up to a photoshoot on mushrooms?? That is weird. We became fast friends after that.

Peace’s debut album, My Face, was my favorite of last year, so when they finished recording their sophomore effort, I immediately forced their drummer to send me the album. Again, they have proven that rock 'n’ roll can still be interesting, inventive, and melodic without feeling washed up and tired. Plus, Geddes knows how to write a hook like no one else. You know, a totally unpredictable, off-kilter hook that somehow won’t get out of your head after the first listen. Peace recently signed with Suicide Squeeze Records and their sophomore album, The World Is Too Much With Us, drops in the fall. It’s catchy, smart and romantic as hell.

As for the horse races, I was excited, and there is no better group of boys to smoke, drink, and modestly gamble with than Peace. We only got to bet on one race because, unlike the veteran gamblers who were dressed in big hats and flowing linen slacks, we were late and already kind of drunk. Dembicki won $20. The rest of us lost. But Dembicki was the real loser because he gambled away all his winnings on slot machines in the basement and then road his bike into a lavender bush. Like total rock 'n' roll stars, we took the bus back to the city. I was molested, propositioned, and danced on by a really loud Frenchman. Peace didn't save me, they just watched him grab my leg and laughed as I slapped him away and yelled, "Enough!" That's what I like most about Peace; they know women don't need to be saved.

Did you have any goals with the new album?
Dan: The process was exactly the same, but it rendered different results.
Connor: I think this album is the best thing we have ever done. [Laughs]
Dan: I’m singing a lot more. It’s lyrically different. I wanted to write less kitchen-sink type of lyrics—my day-to-day life—and more about broader issues.

You know what my favorite song on the album is…
Dan: Yeah, well I did want to write just some straight up love songs.

And you did. “Your Hand In Mine” is the most romantic song I have ever heard. What do you think of that song?
Michael: This is a direct quote of what Dan said when we were recording that song: “The thing about this song is that I don’t agree with myself.”

Do you ever share your lyrics with your bandmates?
Michael: Dan always says to us, “Okay, I got the lyrics done”, but he never shares them. So, the song is finished, but we have no concept of what the whole thing sounds like until we record it.
Connor: Our PA is so shitty, so we can’t really hear what he is saying. We kind of get the Charlie Brown version of the lyrics.
Dan: I’m not afraid to show my lyrics.

Do you fancy yourself a poet?
Dan: Not in the band.

But in your personal life?
Dan: [Laughs] In my poetry endeavors, yes. If we make it as a band, I will never pursue poetry. You can’t do that.
Connor: I don’t know…Billy Corgan did it.
Dan: That book is the worst. The Poetry Of My Heart. I’ve read it.
Connor: Me too. I read a few poems. It’s just junior high bitch poetry.
Dan: You can tell he really likes the Romantics, but he’s interpreting it all wrong.

Would you tell him that if you met him?
Dan: Yeah, probably. I have no personal respect for Billy Corgan.

Do you guys have plans to tour? I mean, you are one of my favorite bands ever, but you guys are lazy. Now you have this sophomore record and American label support, so what’s going to happen?
Geoff: It’s getting real now. We’re going to tour America. We are going to make another album and then tour Europe.
Dan: We are lazy about the organizational stuff, but not about the music.

Yeah, but you have to have a balance. You guys have no get-up-and-go.
Dan: We are lacking in that department.

I’ve been reading Johnny Ramone’s autobiography and the Ramones had all these strict rules on tour like they never roughed it, they always got hotels, no smoking or eating food in the van, etc. Do you guys have any band rules?
Connor: Well, we don’t like roughing it.

What’s the roughest tour situation Peace has ever had?
Dan: The two nights in a row on the side of the van in Cranbrook, B.C were really bad.
Geoff: We were driving back from Regina, which was a heinous show—

Why?
Geoff: Oh, no one was there but patrons. On stage, we asked the crowd if anyone could put us up for the night; this had been working, but this time we were met by silence, so we slept - Vice

Though their name evokes a harmonious calm, the kind of mood that Peace like to work in is a lot darker than their flower child name would imply. This kind of misdirection comes into play all over the band's sophomore album, The World Is Too Much with Us. The sunny bounce of opener "Your Hand in Mine" sounds like the Smiths fronted by Ian Curtis, with singer Dan Geddes' subversively restrained performance offsetting the jangly-guitar attempt to inject a little bit of carefree fun into the song. From there, the album begins to take on a more hypnotic, vaguely menacing tone, delivering plenty of thumping, danceable tunes like "The Perp Walk" and "Fun and Games," while always giving the impression that something is just a little bit off. This kind of approach allows the Vancouver post-punk outfit to deliver on the promise of their moniker in unexpected ways, providing a peace that comes not from flower child love and togetherness, but from a trance-like pacifism that draws listeners into the intoxicating darkness with pounding rhythms and brooding atmospherics before bringing them fully under their mesmeric spell with careful repetition. What's amazing about the album is that Peace manages to deliver such a brooding, sometimes ominous atmosphere without ever letting the album feel oppressive, making the listener a willing participant in the pleasantly numbing experience that is The World Is Too Much with Us. - Allmusic

Though their name evokes a harmonious calm, the kind of mood that Peace like to work in is a lot darker than their flower child name would imply. This kind of misdirection comes into play all over the band's sophomore album, The World Is Too Much with Us. The sunny bounce of opener "Your Hand in Mine" sounds like the Smiths fronted by Ian Curtis, with singer Dan Geddes' subversively restrained performance offsetting the jangly-guitar attempt to inject a little bit of carefree fun into the song. From there, the album begins to take on a more hypnotic, vaguely menacing tone, delivering plenty of thumping, danceable tunes like "The Perp Walk" and "Fun and Games," while always giving the impression that something is just a little bit off. This kind of approach allows the Vancouver post-punk outfit to deliver on the promise of their moniker in unexpected ways, providing a peace that comes not from flower child love and togetherness, but from a trance-like pacifism that draws listeners into the intoxicating darkness with pounding rhythms and brooding atmospherics before bringing them fully under their mesmeric spell with careful repetition. What's amazing about the album is that Peace manages to deliver such a brooding, sometimes ominous atmosphere without ever letting the album feel oppressive, making the listener a willing participant in the pleasantly numbing experience that is The World Is Too Much with Us. - Allmusic

In case you haven’t noticed, a new generation of Canadian indie rock bands has begun catching the eye of foreign investors. Canuck acts such as METZ, Nü Sensae and Indian Handcrafts were all scooped by U.S. labels this year, and it was no surprise that Vancouver’s Peace also made the move southward, signing to Suicide Squeeze for their sophomore outing The World is Too Much With Us.

While the band’s 2011 My Face debut showed promise, this is the sound of them capitalizing on it. Continuing to weave a brand of post-punk equally influenced by The Fall, the Mekons and late-70s CBGB, Peace have received a substantial sonic facelift on album two, with their rock’n’roll attack coming across clearer, sharper and with a hell of a gnarly punch. The band’s delivery follows suit — the duelling guitar interplay becoming more complex, the drums more tribally thumped, and the baritone speak-sing of Dan Geddes more assured than ever as he delivers his dejected punk sermons.

This is all best displayed on the album’s lead-off tracks — “Your Hand in Mine,” “Fun and Games” and “The Perp Walk” — all of which find Peace embracing a more direct, hook-heavy approach. While the band could have easily filled an album with songs like these, the record’s last few tracks take a detour down psych alley, though that’s hardly a bad thing.

Effectively, The World is Too Much With Us has taken Peace from “band to watch” to “force to be reckoned with.” - ffwd

In case you haven’t noticed, a new generation of Canadian indie rock bands has begun catching the eye of foreign investors. Canuck acts such as METZ, Nü Sensae and Indian Handcrafts were all scooped by U.S. labels this year, and it was no surprise that Vancouver’s Peace also made the move southward, signing to Suicide Squeeze for their sophomore outing The World is Too Much With Us.

While the band’s 2011 My Face debut showed promise, this is the sound of them capitalizing on it. Continuing to weave a brand of post-punk equally influenced by The Fall, the Mekons and late-70s CBGB, Peace have received a substantial sonic facelift on album two, with their rock’n’roll attack coming across clearer, sharper and with a hell of a gnarly punch. The band’s delivery follows suit — the duelling guitar interplay becoming more complex, the drums more tribally thumped, and the baritone speak-sing of Dan Geddes more assured than ever as he delivers his dejected punk sermons.

This is all best displayed on the album’s lead-off tracks — “Your Hand in Mine,” “Fun and Games” and “The Perp Walk” — all of which find Peace embracing a more direct, hook-heavy approach. While the band could have easily filled an album with songs like these, the record’s last few tracks take a detour down psych alley, though that’s hardly a bad thing.

Effectively, The World is Too Much With Us has taken Peace from “band to watch” to “force to be reckoned with.” - ffwd

If Vancouver punk acts White Lung and Nu Sensae signalled the return of grunge-inflected punk (both via Seattle’s Suicide Squeeze label), Peace’s The World Is Too Much With Us is the crash at the end of the evening. “It’s all fun and games,” speaks-sings Dan Geddes on Fun and Games. But Geddes’ delivery is blazé, almost detached, and later on Kissed Dust he laments, “We’re both at a dead end.” The bulk of Vancouver post-punk act Peace’s latest album is a swirling descent that is diametrically at odds with opener Your Hand In Mine, where Geddes speaks of love with a kind of wide-eyed innocence. As the album evolves, Peace delivers one punch to the gut after another, things consistently getting bleaker, Geddes devolving into repeating “black cocaine” over and over on the droning track of the same name. By the time you get to closer Tattoo, Geddes is lost in a sea of reverb, the stiff bass and drums rolling over him in waves, the guitars flowing in hazy, sinuous lines, floating towards oblivion. - Vancouver Sun

If Vancouver punk acts White Lung and Nu Sensae signalled the return of grunge-inflected punk (both via Seattle’s Suicide Squeeze label), Peace’s The World Is Too Much With Us is the crash at the end of the evening. “It’s all fun and games,” speaks-sings Dan Geddes on Fun and Games. But Geddes’ delivery is blazé, almost detached, and later on Kissed Dust he laments, “We’re both at a dead end.” The bulk of Vancouver post-punk act Peace’s latest album is a swirling descent that is diametrically at odds with opener Your Hand In Mine, where Geddes speaks of love with a kind of wide-eyed innocence. As the album evolves, Peace delivers one punch to the gut after another, things consistently getting bleaker, Geddes devolving into repeating “black cocaine” over and over on the droning track of the same name. By the time you get to closer Tattoo, Geddes is lost in a sea of reverb, the stiff bass and drums rolling over him in waves, the guitars flowing in hazy, sinuous lines, floating towards oblivion. - Vancouver Sun

By Ian Gormely
"Angular" is a descriptor that gets tossed around a great deal when describing modern post-punk. Yet it's hardly an inherent characteristic of the genre. These days, the word is like a code for acts that rely on a too narrow pool of bands ? Wire, Joy Division, Gang of Four ? for influence and inspiration. Peace could easily get lumped in with such a group, but you'd never call their music angular. As with their Slow Children EP and debut album My Face, there's a swirling nature to the Vancouver, BC group's sound that owes more of a debt to the Modern Lovers or even Suicide than the aforementioned groups. Singer Dan Geddes continues to give each track a sense of foreboding drama with his monotone warble, but the band have also amped up their pop-chops and further cleaned up their sound to better showcase each track's throbbing hooks. "Your Hand in Mine" is easily the most pop-minded song the quartet have ever produced. "Perp Walk" shows off the tightly wound interplay between Mike Willock's guitar and the rhythm section, who get their own showcase on the thundering "Winterhouse." Now on respected Pacific North West imprint Suicide Squeeze, Peace should finally get the credit they rightfully deserve.
(Suicide Squeeze) - Exclaim

By Ian Gormely
"Angular" is a descriptor that gets tossed around a great deal when describing modern post-punk. Yet it's hardly an inherent characteristic of the genre. These days, the word is like a code for acts that rely on a too narrow pool of bands ? Wire, Joy Division, Gang of Four ? for influence and inspiration. Peace could easily get lumped in with such a group, but you'd never call their music angular. As with their Slow Children EP and debut album My Face, there's a swirling nature to the Vancouver, BC group's sound that owes more of a debt to the Modern Lovers or even Suicide than the aforementioned groups. Singer Dan Geddes continues to give each track a sense of foreboding drama with his monotone warble, but the band have also amped up their pop-chops and further cleaned up their sound to better showcase each track's throbbing hooks. "Your Hand in Mine" is easily the most pop-minded song the quartet have ever produced. "Perp Walk" shows off the tightly wound interplay between Mike Willock's guitar and the rhythm section, who get their own showcase on the thundering "Winterhouse." Now on respected Pacific North West imprint Suicide Squeeze, Peace should finally get the credit they rightfully deserve.
(Suicide Squeeze) - Exclaim

By Alex Hudson, November 24, 2011

My Face (Pop Echo)

Just how many killer guitar licks will fit on a 42-minute LP? Peace answers this question on My Face by packing 11 postpunk bangers with hypnotically interwoven guitar leads and fleet-fingered bass lines. Riffs are piled on top of riffs, making this an exhausting but rewarding listen.

The album gets off to a pulse-boosting start with the curiously titled “The Uma Uma Truth List”, which uses thundering tom drums to anchor its repetitive groove and densely spiralling guitar melodies. The rest of the album is similarly relentless in its six-stringed assault. “Quite Frankly” bristles with jagged-glass guitars, while the thrilling closer “Common Trash” culminates in an outro of finger-tapping fretboard heroics. Even when the band eases off for the folk-noir slow burn of “Midnight”, the break doesn’t last long, and the song explodes halfway through with pounding rhythms and a fractured, noodling solo.

With so much excitement coming from the amps, frontman Dan Geddes rarely offers much in the way of memorable vocal hooks. He delivers most of his lyrics in a half-spoken drawl, and this slacker approach evokes the swagger of Pavement-era Stephen Malkmus. In the rare moments when Geddes sings an actual melody, his voice is a lovely, Ian Curtis–style baritone croon that will serve him well should the band ever decide to switch to a more pop-friendly style. Still, as long as the fretboard workouts are as mind-melting as this, nobody’s likely to notice the lack of hummable tunes. - Georgia Straight

By Alex Hudson, November 24, 2011

My Face (Pop Echo)

Just how many killer guitar licks will fit on a 42-minute LP? Peace answers this question on My Face by packing 11 postpunk bangers with hypnotically interwoven guitar leads and fleet-fingered bass lines. Riffs are piled on top of riffs, making this an exhausting but rewarding listen.

The album gets off to a pulse-boosting start with the curiously titled “The Uma Uma Truth List”, which uses thundering tom drums to anchor its repetitive groove and densely spiralling guitar melodies. The rest of the album is similarly relentless in its six-stringed assault. “Quite Frankly” bristles with jagged-glass guitars, while the thrilling closer “Common Trash” culminates in an outro of finger-tapping fretboard heroics. Even when the band eases off for the folk-noir slow burn of “Midnight”, the break doesn’t last long, and the song explodes halfway through with pounding rhythms and a fractured, noodling solo.

With so much excitement coming from the amps, frontman Dan Geddes rarely offers much in the way of memorable vocal hooks. He delivers most of his lyrics in a half-spoken drawl, and this slacker approach evokes the swagger of Pavement-era Stephen Malkmus. In the rare moments when Geddes sings an actual melody, his voice is a lovely, Ian Curtis–style baritone croon that will serve him well should the band ever decide to switch to a more pop-friendly style. Still, as long as the fretboard workouts are as mind-melting as this, nobody’s likely to notice the lack of hummable tunes. - Georgia Straight

My Face
Pop Echo, 2011
4/5
My Face, the long-awaited followup to Peace's sensational Slow Children, begins with a flurry of soaking wet post-punk guitar and a jangling bass line over a small-kit garage beat that could fill a stadium. This energy doesn't fizzle for 11 straight tracks. Most of Dan Geddes' lyrics are less sung than hollered like deadpan poems, which consist of shadowy utterances like "Hide / From the rain / In the corner / Grey walls / Grey walls." It's the gravity of Geddes' poetry coupled with the band's technical ability and their unmistakable chemistry that makes My Face work so well. - Vue Weekly

My Face
Pop Echo, 2011
4/5
My Face, the long-awaited followup to Peace's sensational Slow Children, begins with a flurry of soaking wet post-punk guitar and a jangling bass line over a small-kit garage beat that could fill a stadium. This energy doesn't fizzle for 11 straight tracks. Most of Dan Geddes' lyrics are less sung than hollered like deadpan poems, which consist of shadowy utterances like "Hide / From the rain / In the corner / Grey walls / Grey walls." It's the gravity of Geddes' poetry coupled with the band's technical ability and their unmistakable chemistry that makes My Face work so well. - Vue Weekly

From the boned-out face-plant of Aaron Levin:
Huge late-pass on this beast of an LP from Edmonton ex-patriots Peace. Soaring wickedly within rippling bass-lines and jagged guitar wrenching, My Face bursts through every three-minute pop monopoly. Drawing their anthemic, addictive wave-wrought experience over enduring excursions into indie-rock jammery, My Face rips, shreds, and permanently damages every turntable lucky enough to jive with their vibrations. Pop Echo kept this one limited to 300, so grip fast while copies remain within the ether. - Weird Canada

From the boned-out face-plant of Aaron Levin:
Huge late-pass on this beast of an LP from Edmonton ex-patriots Peace. Soaring wickedly within rippling bass-lines and jagged guitar wrenching, My Face bursts through every three-minute pop monopoly. Drawing their anthemic, addictive wave-wrought experience over enduring excursions into indie-rock jammery, My Face rips, shreds, and permanently damages every turntable lucky enough to jive with their vibrations. Pop Echo kept this one limited to 300, so grip fast while copies remain within the ether. - Weird Canada

The bombs were going off in my mind as I watched Peace for the first time mere hours ago. Peace has been Edmonton’s secret obsession since Dan Geddes, singer and guitarist from everyone’s favorite Bummers, left for Vancouver and formed this unique trek into hi-fi indie-rock pastures with a few other Edmonton ex-pats. Searing above Peace’s late-period post-punk jangle is Dan’s unique voice, recorded way in the front so his anthemic chants, hollers, and laconic-yet- surreal lyrics direct you to the corners of his frayed and ingenious existence. It’s easy to fall in love with everything Peace is about; it’s weird and hip, with their angular guitar riffs, rolling bass-lines, and Dan’s bizarre vibrato, but seemingly straight enough to blast in your mom’s car as you drive to Red Lobster waiting to suck down a juicy shrimp platter whilst convincing your litter sister that, yes, Peace will be her favorite band once she tires of Morrissey and The Fall. Which is why the bombs have gone off and I’m not going out on saturday night. Highly recommended. I want to keep gushing; so just listen to the damn mp3s already.

http://weirdcanada.com/2009/08/peace-slow-children/ - weird canada

The bombs were going off in my mind as I watched Peace for the first time mere hours ago. Peace has been Edmonton’s secret obsession since Dan Geddes, singer and guitarist from everyone’s favorite Bummers, left for Vancouver and formed this unique trek into hi-fi indie-rock pastures with a few other Edmonton ex-pats. Searing above Peace’s late-period post-punk jangle is Dan’s unique voice, recorded way in the front so his anthemic chants, hollers, and laconic-yet- surreal lyrics direct you to the corners of his frayed and ingenious existence. It’s easy to fall in love with everything Peace is about; it’s weird and hip, with their angular guitar riffs, rolling bass-lines, and Dan’s bizarre vibrato, but seemingly straight enough to blast in your mom’s car as you drive to Red Lobster waiting to suck down a juicy shrimp platter whilst convincing your litter sister that, yes, Peace will be her favorite band once she tires of Morrissey and The Fall. Which is why the bombs have gone off and I’m not going out on saturday night. Highly recommended. I want to keep gushing; so just listen to the damn mp3s already.

http://weirdcanada.com/2009/08/peace-slow-children/ - weird canada

SLOW CHILDREN

Peace

(Reluctant)

Rating 4

Speaking of Edmonton expats in Van-land ... we can't overlook Peace, featuring Dan Geddes and Connor Mayer, ex-stars of our own indie scene. (The former fronted Social Wire, the latter backed All Purpose Voltage Heroes.) Slow Children is their ornery post-punk debut -- a six-song EP of angular guitars, nimble bass lines a la Bruce Foxton and Paul Simonon, galloping drums and frothing-at-the-mouth vocals. No matter where he lives, Geddes will always be Canada's version of The Fall's Mark E. Smith-- half-speaking, half-singing his lyrics about slushy snow, marriage, and the "push for fame" in quick bursts. "Nobody ... could see ... anybody else," he utters as if he's trying to tell a story while falling asleep on I Forget. You won't -- this is a memorable debut. Peace headline a home-for-the-holidays show on Tuesday, Dec. 29 at The ARTery, 9535 Jasper Ave. Tickets are $10. The show starts at 8 p.m. with opening sets by Puberty, Friendo, Sans AIDS and Mount Doom.

Sandra Sperounes, Edmonton Journal - The Edmonton Journal

SLOW CHILDREN

Peace

(Reluctant)

Rating 4

Speaking of Edmonton expats in Van-land ... we can't overlook Peace, featuring Dan Geddes and Connor Mayer, ex-stars of our own indie scene. (The former fronted Social Wire, the latter backed All Purpose Voltage Heroes.) Slow Children is their ornery post-punk debut -- a six-song EP of angular guitars, nimble bass lines a la Bruce Foxton and Paul Simonon, galloping drums and frothing-at-the-mouth vocals. No matter where he lives, Geddes will always be Canada's version of The Fall's Mark E. Smith-- half-speaking, half-singing his lyrics about slushy snow, marriage, and the "push for fame" in quick bursts. "Nobody ... could see ... anybody else," he utters as if he's trying to tell a story while falling asleep on I Forget. You won't -- this is a memorable debut. Peace headline a home-for-the-holidays show on Tuesday, Dec. 29 at The ARTery, 9535 Jasper Ave. Tickets are $10. The show starts at 8 p.m. with opening sets by Puberty, Friendo, Sans AIDS and Mount Doom.

Sandra Sperounes, Edmonton Journal - The Edmonton Journal