Reviews
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Breaking The Peace (first published in “The Stalking Corpse”, November
Edition, 2005) - Milos de Bombast
Many a band has self-combusted through implosions both on the interpersonal and
personal fronts, a direct result of the clash of artistic ego and excessive
toll of the multiple vices of the rock and roll lifestyle. These generally lead
to the death of a band’s soul, as members who become defunct due to
alcohol/drugs/mental problems are thrown out and replaced, leading to new
members and direction - if the band does not completely disintegrate. A few
manage to reach their artistic zenith before succumbing to a supernova stage,
but most do not and die as fallen stars leaving hardly a trace to show that
they ever existed.
Amongst the fallen would be The Gifts - an early-nineties psi-country outfit
featuring brothers Charles and Robert Peacefull. Their musical momentum fell
far short of warp speed but currently circulating tracks indicate that they
deftly wrote and performed songs both beautiful and edgy all at once. Their
music incorporating dark lyrics juxtaposed with blithe melody would’ve
inevitably led to comparisons with the likes of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen
although the breadth of their canvas included nods to Nashville as well as more
homely Manx music references, from whence they originally came. Probably no one
before or since has employed a distorted, wah-wah lap steel with as much
naturalness as Robert Peacefull. Their vision would even appear to have
preceded the early fumblings of Will Oldham, Jeff Tweedy and the justly
forgotten Scott 4, and the diversity of their fans was testament to this
eclectic music style with indie kids standing shoulder to shoulder with old
rockers and the odd cowboy hat.
Their Gifts to the world never reached full maturity however, as the group
split acrimoniously in 1992. Rumours amongst the band’s following of Robert’s
mental health first arose through his eccentric between-song banter at their
ever-infrequent gigs. Not that Charles represented the steady keel of the
siblings, having a reputation as an unpleasant fist-fighter, who made more
enemies than friends. It was Charles who ended their righteous musical
pilgrimage after months of increasingly bizarre behaviour from his brother,
which included Robert refusing to leave the house for weeks at a time. There
are suggestions that, building up to this, Charles wanted to follow more
commercial ways of promoting themselves and their music. This would seem to be
confirmed by the album they had begun to record for the legendary bastions of
lo-fi, Sarah Records. However, the forthright Robert refused to be a part of it
all. The fall-out was spectacularly inter-continental, Robert remaining in
London and Charles allegedly disappearing to South America, while bassist Bryan
Grimsby was last seen in Morocco and drummer Neil Wichelo emigrated to New
Zealand.
The brothers were reunited briefly in 2001 at Robert’s wedding after leading
apparently separate, eventful and itinerant lives (Robert’s cast in the shadow
of mental illness). But it took the failed suicide attempt of the younger
brother four years later for them to reconcile their differences and consider
making music again. From that time till now they have retained an on-off
partnership and nurtured what was left of the seed of their musical ambitions
to reform as Quarter-Pounder. After over 13 years of musical exile, the
Peacefull brothers are back and last night gave their first musical appearance
together since the demise of The Gifts.
Some things stay the same in that the brothers’ new manager chose a quiet,
unassuming ‘secret’ location for the gig which was advertised by fans around
London using stickers and stencils. These could have gone unnoticed as mere
graffiti and Quarter-Pounder could have been playing their debut gig to a group
of bemused locals in the – perhaps ominously chosen -Blind Beggar pub. However,
their fanbase of old did not let them down and, using their own grapevine, made
sure there was a crowd there ready to receive amongst those lucky enough to
have been there by chance.
The brothers ambled on ‘stage’, unrecognisable from their past incarnation. For
Robert, there has been the well-documented battle with obesity, while violence
and imprisonment have made Charles a harder, leaner figure. Seating themselves
with apparent discomfort, they launched through a barrage of new material not
once referencing any of their past. The influences remain the same, but more
stripped down - you might call it a schizophrenic mélange of free country meets
alt-folk in the English ballad tradition (slightly un-PC given the background).
No glimpses were shown of the brothers’ prior tensions as both played and sang
adeptly, if a little stiffly. Of the (unintroduced) songs, Silence Is Your
Laser Beam reminded the most of their old band – an electric lament to
impotence, with icy shards of Charles’ tremolo guitar, while Robert’s Chet
Carter, much barer than the version circulating on the internet, fascinates
with its delicate bouzouki and plangent lap steel.
The newly formed Quarter-Pounder were well received and the mixture of their
laconic style of old interspersed with rushes of rousing energy convey a more
rounded sensibility and balance between the quiet and the loud, the light and
the dark, the sane and the mad. How long this might remain the status quo is
open to debate as the brothers Peacefull strive again to make their musical
mark. One of the most deserving unknown bands ever to have remained unknown is
now reformed and reinvented. As the leopard cannot change his spots, so the
Peacefulls remain tethered to much of their past musical influence, yet seem to
have found new drive to their sound. Indeed, many believe both to be damaged
sides of the same coin which when spun correctly can make fine music
nonetheless.
Only time will tell if they can keep their coin spinning but fans old and new
alike witnessed and enjoyed a cohesive act, albeit a slightly nervous audience
given the unpredictable history of the performers. The brothers accepted the
applause at the end of the set, before exiting stage left, with Charles’ hand
resting on his brother’s shoulder. Whether this was out of brotherly love or
professional restraint it would be hard to say – what is without doubt is that
the peace has been broken once more.
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