Artist Discovery Series

Lovable. If the Peekers debut album, Life in the Air, had to be summed up in one word, those three syllables could suffice. But it wouldn’t fully capture the simple-sounding—that’s simple-sounding, not simple—band’s blissfully over-produced explosion of reverbed sounds and lush vocals. Drawing heavily on everything from early ’60s girl groups to the sunny psychedelic harmonies of the Beach Boys to the progressive song structures of the Beatles, this girl/boy sextet from Shreveport, Louisiana carefully crafts and layers each of the 13 songs on this record in a way that never loses its playfulness. “Close My Eyes” is all that wrapped up in a swanky burlesque throwback with some hints of ragtime piano leading the way. And tunes like “Gather it All” and “Concrete Feet” effortlessly change tempos, as if a leaf in the breeze. — Joe Shearer