Peach Trees’ EP Is Poppin’
It’s not easy to define Peach Tree Rascals, simply because they have no interest in being pinned down. More of a brotherhood than a collective, The Rascals seemingly blend melody with layers of rich harmony and R&B grooves.
The LA-based group makes music that meets at the junction of alt-jazz, funk, hip-hop, and R&B.
And after having lockdown to sharpen their knives, Peach Tree Rascals have finally released their EP, Camp Nowhere.
The Rascals are a boy band that dabbles in rap and R&B, and also pop – similar to the versatile Brockhampton collective. With strong vocals and synth layers propelled forward by playful drum-beats, they create an indie rap experience that takes you back to summer camp.
All of their songs are complete with weightless melodies and incredible production. Their many jazz inspired instruments on songs like “LEAVE ME” take you to a warm summer vibe at a camp. With so much talent molded together, it’s crazy to think this is their first time making an EP.
The group is composed of of producer/mixer Dominic “Dom” Pizano, rappers-singers Issac Pech, Tarrek Abdel-Khaliq, Joseph Barros, and creative director Jorge Olazaba.
Peach Tree Rascals’ Debut
“I wanted to make sure this was the eye into our world,” Jorge has highlighted. “The opening of the gates. The intro to the world we created around our camp.” The project starts off strong with unique and sonic songs like “OOZ” and “JoJo” have great thought for the concept album.
“Camp Nowhere came from the idea that a lot of people have been using the isolation of quarantine and the state of the world to dig deeper into themselves and figure out what’s important to them,” Tarrek shared. “For some, it’s discovering a new hobby, or that it’s time to move on to a new place. For Peach Tree Rascals, it was taking a week in Yosemite to dive into our creativity. We’ve always done a combination of sounds that inspire us all. This feels like all of our inspirations mixed.”
To date, Peach Tree Rascals has garnered 400 million streams across platforms and have six million monthly listeners on Spotify. Their breakthrough hit “Mariposa” charted to No. 1 on the Alternative Radio Chart and have been co-signed by Lizzo and Harry Styles.
With any debut, there are some low lights. The band’s concept of this “Camp Nowhere” isn’t too fleshed out. In addition, one of their greatest strengths in production ends up also being a bit of over-kill at times.
In addition, it sometimes feel like they might be trying to be the next One Direction. Depending on who you talk to, that could be a good or bad thing.
Overall, the album is a great introduction to the band and definitely has some gems from the “Summer Rides” playlist.
