RISING TIDE OF CONFORMITY

Click HERE to listen on SPOTIFY.

Explicitly political music in Britain still tends to generally fall into one of two categories: the angry young ska/punk bands such as king Blues and Sonic Boom Six – and those radical folk singers (Gaughan, Rosselson, Bragg) who know there’s more to tradition than maypoles and fair maidens. Which is why Peyoti for President are such a breath of fresh air: they fit neither description and can hopefully confuse those who dismiss political music as the ‘same old same old.’ Pietro Dimascio, London born front man, has surrounded himself with musicians, inspiration and ideas from countries as diverse as Brazil, Egypt, Syria, India, Jamaica, Italy and Spain – the ensuing racket, loosely samba driven but borrowing from right around the world is funky, fresh and vital. The up-front lyrics place the band somewhere Manu Chao and Rage Against the Machine though without any of their traditional rock stylings. The anger is driven by rhythm and a unique cultural mixture, acoustic guitars and hand-claps, congas and fiddle, samples and brass. To Peyoti’s credit, the album is genuinely and shockingly original. In a globalised world, it seems more important than ever to find new and universal ways of expressing anger and dissatisfaction and desire for change. This album – its title taken from a 1964 photograph of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan – sounds like a perfectly apt response to the madness of a world at war. 5 STARS

Rock n Reel Magazine UK