Peaking Lights 936

"Peaking Lights work like a kaleidoscope, and not only because their music is so richly colored and fluid. The basic patterns are laid out right in front of you-- catchy drum loops, loping bass rhythms, oily groove patterns-- while the smaller, stranger details in your periphery help tie everything together. Take "Birds of Paradise (Dub Version)", a song that best characterizes Peaking Lights' M.O. Aaron Coyes lets the clunky drums and bass line anchor the song neatly, while Indra Dunis provides some bewitching, hymn-like vocals. The rest is wonderfully detailed, as Spaghetti Western guitars, reverb, and curious spurts of keyboard drift by. There's no need to clutter the song with extraneous patches of noise, no need to overstimulate. Peaking Lights make sure everything is carefully plucked, arranged delicately, and given room to breathe, with the groove handling the heavy lifting.
For fans of psych-journeyman Sun Araw's collages, this might all sound pretty familiar. Peaking Lights are certainly close contemporaries, but the differences are crucial and indicative of their interest in fostering a subtler, more romantic feel. The fact that the band hails from Wisconsin is puzzling; while components of some of these songs sound downright arid and lost, a lot of 936 produces a tingle only a vitamin D-rich bath of sunlight can offer. 936 isn't necessarily a record you might consider tucking in your beach bag-- it's likely too alien and too narcotized (all of this depending on where you're vacationing, of course). But considering that so much of this crackled, psych-drenched dub coming in from the West Coast feels so damn heavy, the lightness of Peaking Lights makes for a surprisingly luminous listen." - Pitchfork