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For a relatively new band, Pepper Rabbit seems to be moving at lightning speed. With their debut release, Beauregard, just making its appearance in October of last year, this band is back in less than a year’s time. In this short of a time period, Xander Singh and Luc Laurent have culminated a slew of all new jams. Now, if it had been any other duo making this quick of a return, it would be easy to be apprehensive of the merit of said release. However, the two gentlemen on this record have a powerful sense of what sounds good meshed together and it’s this collaborative ease that pushes Red Velvet Snowball to it’s best.
Claiming the genre psych pop, Pepper Rabbit begins this sophomore effort with “Lake House,” which is naturally coated in raging synthesizers of all sounds and forms. It creeps in slowly at first, showcasing the electronic sounds before establishing a solid rhythm and letting the toned down yelp of Singh to enter. It is a good appetizer, letting you get used to their styling before they move onto their spectacular single “Rose Mary Stretch,” which is clearly the main dish. Bouncy synth once more begins the song, but it doesn’t last for long before the pop elements take over; the faint handclaps in the background, the steady build to its furious climactic finish, or the crashing cymbals along for the ride.
After these first two songs, Pepper Rabbit should have a strong hold on your ears, but if they don’t, for some strange reason, stick around. There are plenty of treats later on in the album. An example of this comes in the form of “Murder Room,” whose groovy beats warrants head bobbing and toe tapping.
But the best part about Pepper Rabbit is that the electronic elements don’t overpower the sound produced. So often, a band throws in too many bleeping synthesizers and you can’t hear the other elements: the drums, the vocals, the other little nuances that keep it from turning into one big cloud of noise. This band incorporated various other instruments into their repertoire, and played around with looping of sounds and the result is a sound that feels fresh and crisp. There isn’t a song on here that you’ll need to skip.
With the end of summer looming close, Red Velvet Snowball is resurgence back to feelings of bliss and carefree that comes along with this immense heat, so enjoy it while you can.
I’ve always been a fan of the Tuareg sound, and for those in the States, there’s a handful of artists like Mdou Moctar who come to our minds. Just this week, Mdou member/collaborator Mikey Coltun announced Purplish Records, his very own label, with some obvious ties to the band’s work because the first release features both Mikey and Ahmoudou; it’s two very different takes on what looks to be a family of creativity. On Mikey’s side, you get his foray into understanding his own ancestry, and then flip it over to hear Ahmoudou play acoustic guitar with his brother Abdoulaye. For now, you can either grab a limited cassette, or just stream at Bandcamp and below!
Feel like we should start off Friday with something straight and simple: good old fashioned fuzzy rock n’ roll from 
David Christian
