Live Review Peace, Brixton Academy, London 9th October 2015

Before tonight’s headliners have even taken to the stage, the anticipation in Brixton Academy is palpable. Glitter-cheeked adolescents scramble to take the perfect selfie before the lights dim for Peace’s entry, generating an eruption of One Direction worthy screams.

Set opener ‘O You’ is a grooving if slow start to the set but full-on jumping is soon instigated with the bouncing guitar lines of ‘Wraith’ and ‘Follow Baby’.

The pace slows with an acoustic interlude of ‘Someday’, ‘Under the Moon’ and ‘Float Forever’. While the gentle strumming and Harrison Koisser’s waif-like quivers of vocal delivery may have interrupted the chaos temporarily, the enthusiasm of the crowd hasn’t dampened (metaphorically not literally – they’re all drenched in sweat).

A particular highlight of the show is old favourite ‘1998’, a Binary Finary cover taken from their first EP. It’s epic in every sense of the word. A whole ten bloody minutes of haunting ambience, teasing and then erupting into a crescendo of sensual sonic frenzy. This is Peace at their most grand and musically adventurous.

The buoyant melodies of ‘Perfect Skin’ act as a call-to-arms for a high percentage of the crowd; crossing their fingers for acne no more. The entire show is as slick as Douglas Castle’s riffs but it’s encore closer ‘World Pleasure’ that delivers on sheer funky energy. While Harrison Koisser’s semi-rap may be questionable, these stylised psychedelic grooves show just how fun these boys can be. Reminiscent of Primal Scream or the Happy Mondays, it’s again easy to see why Peace are often associated with the ‘90s revival’, ironic considering the majority of the audience in question barely existed in that decade.