Underrated Bay Area Artists: P.E.E.

Hailing from San Francisco, P.E.E. was an indie rock band that existed from 1993-1996. Whenever I listen to this band, I always wonder why they’re never more widely known. They have a questionable yet attention-grabbing name, extremely tight playing, and infectiously catchy songwriting.

During their lifetime, they released two albums and an EP: Now! More Charm & More Tender, The Roaring Mechanism, and Miracle Research Center Staff. One thing I adore about these releases is the straight-in-your-face but brief songwriting, which makes a lot of these albums very short. Their debut album, More Charm, has particularly erratic and frenzied structured songs with pieces like “I Hate All Vegetables” slamming the listener’s ears with these aggressive angular guitars and following them up with blissful harmonics, finally fading out in just 49 seconds. Their jerky transitions throughout makes this song feel driving and complete while not even lasting a minute. Some notable tracks with this sound that I adore are “Plankton,” “Copacetic,” “Treeeeed,” and “Bubulubu.” This isn’t P.E.E. ‘s only trick, though, as they balance out these unpredictable busts with conventional indie songs that borders between upbeat and melancholic but still just as lively and engaging as the aforementioned songs. Many of these songs come from their other two releases. “Carmen’s Theme” from The Roaring Mechanism, for example, shows the beauty that P.E.E. can attain amid their chaotic yet catchy catalog, with the introduction of strings adding a smooth floating quality to the music. “See Photo,” “San Salvador,” and “Wyatt on the Spiral Stairs,” are some other songs that I believe perfectly represent this aspect of the band. Regardless of structure or mood, P.E.E. ‘s material is tied together by their raw sound and endearingly youthful lyrics, vocals, and general stylistic choices such as song names which makes the band all the more enjoyable.

All in all, P.E.E. further solidifies why Bay Area indie rock will always be the best. If you’re a Bay Area native (which I assume you are if you’re reading a blog post from a Bay Area radio station) and you haven’t checked out P.E.E., you are doing yourself a major disservice and I recommend you change that as soon as possible.

Louie DeGroot