Pete Power - S/T EP

Having reviewed Pete Power’s latest venture LAYOUT for Clean Sheets, I was asked by kooltone’s Rob McLean if I’d be up for covering his S/T EP as well, which I agreed to as I believe in supporting the underground artists and labels. After all, if we didn’t they’d be nothing but a steady diet of Ed Sheeran, Meghan Thee Stallion, Oasis, Robbie Williams and The Foo Fighters. I think we can agree that this would benefit exactly no-one, particularly those with integrity, taste, self-respect and brain cells on active duty.

As highlighted in my aforementioned review of LAYOUT’s debut, there is a Godunknown Records connection seeing as label owner Jason Stoll used to be in Playhouse with Pete. After the demise of said band, Power effectively went solo, ‘producing a treasure trove of home-recorded tracks brimming with lyrical depth and emotional grit’. Needless to say, Kiss and AC/DC this is not. I don’t foresee songs about drinking, getting laid and partying anytime soon.

‘Why Are You Asking Me’ recalls a Lou Barlow less Dinosaur Jr, records which really tend to get overlooked for the most part. There’s a lysergic quality to the track which fits in with J Mascis slacker sensibility. I was also reminded of Boo Radley’s early Shoegaze experiments, before they started to wake up, get it? This woozy, delicious slice of Noise-Pop is exactly what the doctor ordered and the perfect start to the record. ‘She Shows You’ is a little jangly, but thankfully not of The LA’s or The Real People variety. Unlike those two, there a little more dirt underneath the fingernails, which demonstrates Pete’s love for 80’s/90’s US Alt-Rock. There’s some Psych elements present too, which elevates the track yet further into joyfully otherworldly dimensions, a catchy gem. ‘Stay Special’ reminds one of the kind of stripped-down quite sweet Twee Indie Pop which Calvin Johnson and K Records released, basically what was coming out of Olympia in the 80s and early 1990s as a reaction to the more aggressive, some would say (not me) macho Hardcore scene. In some ways, I see Pete’s work as the polar opposite to the bland laddish Pub Rock of Status Quo and Paul Weller, no wonder I dig it.

‘You Can Drive’ is the longest track on the EP and has an REM goes Alt-Country vibe (which they actually did around Reckoning) with a little Shoegaze and Dream-Pop slipped in along the way. Maybe its because I’ve been listening to them quite a bit recently but Mojave 3 were a band which also came to mind. There’s a really nice driving quality to it which will have you bobbing your head as you’re listening along to it, which is exactly what I was doing. Although early Sebadoh & Lou Barlow were mentioned in the promotional notes on the EP’s Bandcamp page, ‘Hold’ is the only song, at least to my mind, which overtly hints at that influence. The lo-fi Indie, Acoustic and Folk elements of records such as The Freed Man, Weed Forestin’ and III areall evident here. This affords for an understated, almost sombre conclusion to the record.

If you enjoy Pete’s other work, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this too. It reminds you of how great Indie used to be before its commercialisation during Britpop and beyond into fucking dreadful fare as Kasabian, The Kaiser Chiefs and so on. Maybe it's the US-centric nature of Pete’s material which draws me to it, but whatever it is, I’m hooked. You will be too once you pick up a copy.