Music: Peggy Sue

Without Pirates but all grown up – the indie darlings

The highly regarded duo of Rosa Slade and Katy Young first emerged in 2005 as Peggy Sue & The Pirates, quickly developing an art student following in Brighton, before releasing their debut single ‘Television’ in 2007. Having largely ditched the twee indie-folk style that got them off running, as well as dumping The Pirates part of their name, and the Kate Nash vocal stylings before it got too irritating, Peggy Sue have, with the addition of Olly Joyce on drums and percussion, quietly gone about the business of developing as songwriters, singers and musicians, culminating in the release of their fourth studio album earlier this year, Choir Of Echoes.

It’s their best yet, a mature reflection of life through their eyes, but also an album about singing and the art and complexities of communication. “Choir of Echoes is about singing,” they say. “About losing your voice and finding it again. Voices keep each other company and voices competing for space. The calls and response of the kindest and cruelest words. Choruses. Duets, whispers and shouts.”

For the most part, they sing in unison, their reverb-soaked harmonies forged through years of singing together, and to each other… you can’t imagine one without the other, such is their subtle chemistry.

Choir of Echoes is also notable for the percussive work of Joyce, which is given more prominence, and his energetic yet intricate drum work lends many of the songs a depth and dynamism that has sometimes been previously lacking. Where Peggy Sue might drift into overly maudlin territory, Joyce’s drums makes it sparkier, more dynamic.

Taking their cue from their album of 2012 (their take on the original songs that were included on the soundtrack to the Kenneth Auger cult movie), their love of doo-wop and early rock ’n’ roll has inspired the raucously dreamy song ‘Longest Day Of The Year Blues’. Another standout cut is the short and sweet and beautifully named ‘How Heavy The Quiet That Grew Between Your Mouth And Mine’, a stripped back country-folk song that perhaps points to the future for Peggy Sue, a band who are in essence as traditional as Buddy Holly and the aforementioned doo-wop; very little but guitars, drums and voices feature throughout, a master class of economy and song craft from this most unassuming of bands.
Green Door Store, Monday 7 April, 7.30pm, £8

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