Brando's Peacocks On Linen took about two years to fully come together, which is actually somewhat impressive as the four multi-instrumentalists in the band no longer live on the same continent, let alone the same city. With such an obstacle preventing them from playing together regularly, one must suspect the only reason they've stayed together for more than six years is because they know how damn good they are. On Peacocks on White Linen they master both the delicate, acoustic side of Neil Young, as in "The French Revolution", and the sharp, poppy sounds of Guided By Voices, as in "To Retain".

All of the songs were composed -- exceptionally well -- by Derek Richey. They make the most of the band's modest command of their instruments, converting an individual song's focus on one or two chords into a strength. The melodies are simple, and maybe even borrowed, but they bring depths of emotion to Richey's often nonsensical rhymes ("The young maiden sings so loud and clear/Lose twenty pounds or you can't adhere"). Generally, his words focus on dark subjects, as with "Short Epic Murder" and "The French Revolution", but dark subjects as told by a guy who wants you to feel sympathy for the hurting.

To some degree, I guess all of the songs are dark -- but this is not satanic pop, no matter how many times voodoo hexes are mentioned. In songs like "AM Ejaculation", a rather ugly song about a girl masturbating to an answering machine, Brando proves to be essentially the musical equivalent of a Todd Solendz movie. These are compassionate moments of the insane, and Brando wrenches these songs into us, thanks to Derek's striking voice. In the future, I envision Brando becoming a more musically conventional Camper Van Beethoven, trying to capture the darker essence of life. Almost always, I suspect, they will succeed in giving us something worth humming about.