Artist Spotlights: Bringing Back Psychedelic Rock with Peach Almanac
Austin’s Peach Almanac transports their listeners back to the ‘60s with psychedelic visuals, tight tempo changes, and old-school outfits.
Artist Spotlights introduces you to artists that may not be on your radar yet, but should be. With recently cancelled tours and income loss for small artists, there’s no time like the present to find new talent to support.
Written by Dhiren Wijesinghe
Photos courtesy of Peach Almanac
Recommended If You Like: Jefferson Airplane, Levitation Room, The Beatles, Khruangbin
Formerly known as Jupiter’s Children, Peach Almanac looks and sounds as if its members were born seventy years too late. The five piece band often dons 1960s style outfits and accompanies their live shows with mesmerizing visuals. Frequently playing sets in Austin, Texas, Peach Almanac gives Austinites a glimpse into what music used to sound like in the age of Twiggy and bowl cut boy bands. In March 2020, the band put an end to their virtual absence by releasing their debut EP Happiness Is… on all platforms.
They are comparable to a modern-day equivalent of rock group Jefferson Airplane because of their powerful frontwoman and jazz roots. In the words of musicologist Allan F. Moore, psychedelic rock, “featured extended blues-based improvisations, surrealist lyrics with performances often loud and accompanied by lavish light-shows. The effect was intended to evoke or support a drug-induced state.” Peach Almanac is the epitome of the genre.
Happiness Is… sounds as if the entire EP is a recorded jam session. Lengthy guitar, organ, and drum solos make Peach Almanac fans feel as if they are sitting right in the band’s practice space. Their deep, heavily-echoed vocals pierce into your head and wrap themselves around your brain. Intense tempo changes keep you on edge as you wait for the next surprise to present your imagination with the unimaginable.
Before COVID-19, Peach Almanac had gigs at venues such as Mohawk, Sahara Lounge, and The Electric Church on an almost weekly basis. Clad in colorful, flowy outfits, the band looks most at home on stage. They sound just as vintage as they look too, partly due to their use of vintage equipment. Right off the bat, the band engulfs listeners in a loud wall of sound as they ecstatically dance all over the performance space. Mixed with their quick song transitions and mind-bending liquid light projections, Peach Almanac creates an intense sensory experience.
Peach Almanac’s debut EP is just the start of what could potentially be a successful career as a modern psych rock band. Just as their predecessors The 13th Floor Elevators and American Blues did, Peach Almanac is bringing a taste of psych rock back to Texas.