This has been an exciting year in music with a ton of new bands emerging, which means more great albums to add to your collection. Perhaps one of my favorites is the debut album from NYC’s Deep Sea Peach Tree called Vaguely Navy. Self-defined as surf rock with jazz and shoegaze inclinations, the band puts out a incredibly solid first listen. Its a good mix of catchy pop melodies, jazzy instrumentals, and crooning vocals courtesy of Kristof Denis. Deep Sea Peach Tree utilizes their many influences to create fun yet introspective music.
Vaguely Navy is a fitting name, seeing as most of the songs seem to embody a vague familiarity, perhaps nostalgia. Part of it is the excessive reverb and manner in which Denis sings. The title track is an uber-cool, surf jam that’s dreamy and catchy all in one go. If there was one song on the album that is perfect to start, its this one. There are interesting rhythmic changes that show just how skilled the band is at composing intricate music. This is quite a feat because it balances with the accessibility of the pop-rock format.
Deep Sea Peach Tree Is Hardly Vague
Deep Sea Peach Tree has a particular charm for their recording style and sound in general. Due to the reverb and retro guitar effects, the album sounds like it was recorded live. It’s a very DIY sounding record, which is popular and most people will probably like it. It is exhibited on tracks like “Felt,” one of the singles. One of the deeper songs lyrically but also one of the most sparse. The instrumentals are full of fun effects, definitely a great last song.
For those of you who really love a jazz infused number, “Temper Tantrums” is the one for you. Granted, the jazz influences are found throughout Vaguely Navy, but this song just oozes with them. It features standard chords, mood changes, and standard changes.
Vaguely Navy is a super exciting start for Deep Sea Peach Tree. The album is seriously a hit, a great end of summer record.
