Icarus Peel :: The Sunflower Army

If you can get your head around just the name The Sunflower Army, then your halfway there, or already got a few flowers stuck in your rifle. Icarus Peel pours out the sun and sunshine with the flowering and the bursting, and is essentially an army of one by all appearances, soldier and captain. Peel covers that and more with a weave of psych, folk, pop, rock, some pastoral prog seedlings and his own eccentricities…all woven by hands firmly in control and on the wheel, and somewhere between the ditches. The jubilant loose vibe throughout may get the most attention, but the focus highlights and champions Peel’s songwriting savvy and craftsmanship.

The Sunflower Army moves effortlessly from one cut to the next without any hesitation. Opener Pluggin’ In starts with a full head of steam before being surrounded by The Sunflower Army. Pebble in a Pool pops and bubbles like you think it would into the gorgeous Why — Fleeting Joys, odd false start included. Of course. The rest of Army marches without trampling the grass, sliding from points where the air is a bit thinner to earthy folk and prog workouts, coming full bloom on the epic Moon Madness. Points between and on unfold and flow without ever crowding. Peel’s vocals tie it all together and move it forward with a wry honeyed quiver that is inextricable from the music; made clear on the brief, but velvety lush Prism on the Bend, a respite as relaxing as it is buoyant.

Every one pulls their weight in The Sunflower Army. It’s all threaded so assuredly and naturally nothing seems out-of-place. While the tunes spill out of the cornucopia with variety and eccentricities popping off everywhere, it’s easy to overlook it’s all put in its place and farmed by said one man army. If brothers in arms like Bevis Frond, Anton Barbeau, Martin Newell, … are your cup of tea, then grab a fistful more of flowers to shove down them smoking rifles and sign up for The Sunflower Army.

Prism on the Bend :: Icarus Peel  :: The Sunflower Army (2011, Trumpton Records)