Gallery 47’s “East Street” LP

They’re quaint but communicative in “Don’t Give Up,” pointed and full of an understated vibrancy in “All Incredible.” “Dulcimer” presents us with an electronic edge to the rhythm of their construction, while “Soda” skews their presence with a psychedelic influence that is almost too mind-bending for its own good. Delivered by the brilliant Gary Judd, the beats that we discover when taking in any of the ten songs included on Gallery 47’s East Street LP are an undisputed cornerstone of the chill factor in this latest release from Jack Peachey’s collaborative solo vehicle. The enigmatic poetry aside, this album was made for fans of unsuspectingly powerful grooves, and moreover, the decadent patterns that would present them to us in the first place.

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Great storytelling has always played a really big part in Peachey’s music with Gallery 47, and in this sense, East Street is no different, and its lead single “I Wish I Was” is perhaps its best-organized composition on this front. “I Wish I Was” is a lyrical masterpiece, but its substance doesn’t come from a written narrative exclusively – contrarily, I would say that the execution of the vocal, and moreover, the way that it interacts with the gentle push of the drums in the background is what clues us in to the deeper emotional undertow in this track. It’s not the only instance in which Peachey has flexed some serious compositional muscle, but it could be one of his most selflessly stylized numbers to see widespread release in his career thus far.

The production quality in East Street is a bit grainy throughout songs like “Breathe In,” “Liar,” “Dulcimer” and “Embers,” but I think this was necessary to lend more agency to the unvarnished nature of the music in all of these songs. There’s an emotionality that isn’t being conveyed through words alone in this latest effort from Gallery 47, and although I would stop short of saying that it’s channeled more often through the sonic end of this disc than it is the finish (which has frequently been the case with past cuts from this act), there’s no getting around the fact that Peachey was clearly looking to explore his depth as a performer in this album. If he wasn’t, he certainly picked a funny way of going about making a really gripping outing.

Haunting and brutally cerebral where it counts the most, East Street, and its powerhouse single “I Wish I Was” most of all, are low-fidelity must-listens for indie rockers everywhere this year, and come this March, I have a feeling that both are going to be hailed as some of the best content we’ve collectively seen from Gallery 47 and Jack Peachey. You don’t have to be familiar with any of the eight additional LPs this unit has released prior to now to appreciate the level of passion that much have went into making every stitch of songs like “Soda” and “Faith Discarded” special, but for those of us who have had Gallery 47 on our watch-list for a minute this record was well worth the wait.

Nicole Killian