Billy Reese Peters

Supposedly, the boys in Billy Reese Peters like to get wasted. Assuming this to be true, Almost Heaven, their first full-length release in their seven-year existence, sounds spot the fuck on. A collection of fast punk’n’roll that’s just sloppy enough to be cool, Billy Reese Peters sound like the snot-nosed kid brother of old Hot Water Music, kicking out the whiskey-soaked vocals with a dash of classic rock guitar solos and a few more hits from the beer bong. Songs like "(Crack) Rock Opera” demonstrate the best the band has to offer, mixing up a powerful sense of dynamics, expressive and honest lyrics about living in a rundown shit-hole, some catchy guitar and a powerhouse rhythm section driving the whole thing. The band balances thing out with the playfulness of tracks like the Molly Shannon psycho-love-letter "Mary Katherine Gallagher” and ultimately kills it with a drunken, loving cover of "Traveling Band”.