Peabody - The Devil For Sympathy (EP)
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» Peabody - Old Bar, The, Vic - November 1, 2007
» Peabody - Always on the verge - October 6, 2005
» Peabody - Old Bar, The, Vic - November 1, 2007
Sydney band, Peabody, is set to unleash a wild beast titled 'The Devil For Sympathy', the first single from Prospero, their forthcoming third album. After having undergone a significant line-up change, the band regrouped and is proclaiming that they have broadened their focus. The press release accompanying the latest offering even goes so far to say that the band have ‘taken a handful of paintbrushes and a palette of colours to the bleak dystopia of their previous album, The New Violence. Unfortunately, this release doesn’t showcase the depth that the aforementioned statement claims because these boys are actually painting with merely the dark end of the colour spectrum.
Opener, 'The Devil For Sympathy', as you may have guessed, is an appropriation of The Rolling Stones’ song, 'Sympathy For The Devil'. It is a thick-skinned and detached approach to adversity with a raucous, freshness reminiscent of the early Foo Fighters’ recordings. It also contains an interesting lyric: ‘Like shooting fish in a barrelful of lonely hearts’.
The following tack, 'Buzzard Vs Ibis' is a musical duel between the performers as played out by the two birds, the Ibis and the Buzzard. It immediately grabs the listener with its infectious, dirty bass and is a heavy Britpop song designed to incite a bloody riot.
Track three is Peabody’s self-proclaimed ‘Part 3’ in their ‘Stalker series’. The infatuated singer uses simple but urgent lyrics to profess an unnatural love for an unnamed object of affection. Personally, I can’t help but feel I’m stuck in the middle of a scene in Fatal Attraction film, albeit one instigated by a male protagonist. Its bleak subject matter and feverish intent remind me of Placebo and similar sentiments are replicated on the subsequent live track, 'The New Violence'.
Finally, the release draws to a close with the most different song of the assortment, 'All Will Be Gone'. It is a ballad that conjures up the image of a lone country singer belting out a heartfelt tune as rough tradesmen are busy erecting a dark wall of noise beside him and instead of the usual whir of power tools, their work is punctuated by ghostly apparitions, wailing.
In sum, the release is a reasonable offering of hard and fast melancholic tunes. Readers, brace yourselves, as you’ll have to stay tuned to see whether this release is indicative of what will be offered on the forthcoming album.
