At this juncture within the music scene, the declaration of a band having “a style all their own” gets thrown around recklessly and all but too often. Every week it seems we’re siphoned intell on bands that transcend styles and circumvent categories from all different angles, just to be slapped into a labeled box a fortnight or so later, post enough people on the boards coming to a collective verdict on the band’s sound. It’s gotten so that music deemed “miscellaneous” or “alternative” has even become regimented, situated into sectors and sub-genres in order to make them palatable for the mass market consumption, while attempting to simultaneously appear new and groundbreaking. While there are many groups who have been bestowed with the title of having an indiscernible technique to music making, very few in truth have earned such a lofty brand. The Peekaboo Theory, a sextet hailing from Houston, Texas on the other hand, has attained this mantle by simply ousting all claims and ownership of a designated genre from their name, and simply letting their skills and passion for music affirm whatever credence and accreditations that may follow.
After forming in 2006, Tony Roopa, Ramon Wakefield, Jamescayn Whitecloud, Nathan “Twist” Matthews, Darian Fleming and F.Y~I.A.A.M formed the six man ensemble of guitar, drum, bass, vocals, and turntable that would proceed to baffle audiences, and leave crowds in a collective awe from that day forth. Refusing to be overlooked in the cavalcade of come-and-go musicians who often get lumped into corners when seeming to fit the space, PT garnered street-cred by blowing away local venues in their home town of Houston. Receiving notable acclaim from theHouston Chronicle, one of Texas’ foremost newspapers, as well as the Houston Press(considered the Crème de la Crème for the Texas Indie scene), before going on to gain even more accolades for their performance at the 2009 Afro-Punk Festival held in Brooklyn, New York, The Peekaboo Theory dashes upward and onward -all the while gaining an ever-increasing array of fans and showing little signs of intent to oscillate or abate their rate of ascent. With the release of their highly anticipated debut LP, Sy~3nc3 & Pr()gr@m5, our six musical chesires are showing the masses that not every band coming down the pike requires a title or tangible form to strike you as amazing.
With space changing arias such as Immediate Hesitation — a slick-riff tune equipped with a catchy drum beat, a thumb-breaking bass line, and turntable work that is nothing short of phenomenal — and scratch reliant tracks such as Cataclysmand Slave Trade, the boys of PT leave you with fewer words than “wow”. While listening to the album, one is truly stumped on how to go about defining the band’s style and structure, an unsorted though never unorganized blend of hip-hop, with a seemingly endless list of rock styles peppered throughout. All this is laid atop soulful, thought provoking vocals that clasp one’s attention by the ears, and never relents for one moment from beginning to end. To any and all even half way serious about finding a truly amazing band that sidesteps the onslaught of so called “alternative” music makers roaming the land these day, The Peekaboo Theory’s Sy~3nc3 & Pr()gr@m5 comes highly recommended, and would serve as a fine addition to any true music fan yearning for a sound that surpasses the average.